Re: Life with Organization XIII
by BansheeFromHell
Summary: My name is Nikki. After an unusual turn of events, I now live with Organization XIII. Easy? Not even close… Axel/OC
1. Prologue

**Banshee: Hello everyone! Here is the prologue for the new version of "Life with Organization XIII"! I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to writing for you again!**

* * *

Prologue

* * *

Nails tapped against the floor as a black German Shepherd sauntered down the hallway, heading towards a bedroom with the door hanging open slightly. He pushed the door open with his nose, walking into the room, his eyes immediately landing on the figure sleeping in the bed; his current target.

Slowly approaching the bed, he sniffed at the mess of hair that poked out from underneath the blanket, letting out a low growl before barking loudly.

There was a loud, feminine shriek as the figure flailed around, falling off the bed.

Rubbing the back of her head, the girl sat up on the floor and glared at him with fiery blue eyes.

"Damn it, Butch!" She yelled out. "You know I hate it when you do that!"

Butch's only response was a little yip and a wag of the tail.

She glared at the canine. "Dinnae give me that look." She growled, referring to his clueless 'I don't know what you're talking about' look. "You and I both know that you're guilty."

Butch whined, pawing at her. She knew what that meant.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Time for breakfast." The girl sighed, getting up and patting Butch on the back of the neck. "Come on, let's go."

And with that, the girl walked out of the room, the Shepherd bounding after her exitedly.

That girl was named Nikki Hale; actually, her name is Nicole, but she prefers to be called 'Nikki.' At eighteen-years-old, Nikki is one of the oldest students in her high school; Destiny High, which she attends with all her friends. She's lived on the main island for quite a long time, now. Her family was originally from Sacred Meadow, but after some intense and careful thought, they decided that they needed a fresh start and moved to the islands.

Nikki is a pretty young lady, with fair skin and long, waist-length light-brown hair. Her most defining trait is her deep blue eyes, which can either freeze or burn someone alive depending on how she looked at them. She is neither too short, nor too tall, right in the middle as far as height is concerned, and her weight falls into an average range for a girl her age (I can't tell you her exact weight because she would hit me if I did).

Walking down to the kitchen, with Butch right at her heels, Nikki stopped dead in her tracks when she reached her sister's room. You would expect her to go inside and wake her sister up, telling her it was time for breakfast, but she didn't. Instead, she just stared into the empty room, sadness flashing in her eyes for a brief second before she shook it off and kept walking. Her sister hadn't moved out, left for work or gone off to college...

She was dead; died in a car crash when Nikki was eleven.

But there isn't time to dwell on that. The full story will be told another time.

When Nikki reached the kitchen, her mother was already there, having her morning coffee.

"G'mornin', Honey." Her mother, named Catherine, greeted her warmly; albeit tiredly.

"Mornin' Mom." Nikki returned the greeting, yawning. "What's for breakfast?"

"Whatever you want." Said her mother. " _After_ I have my coffee."

Fair enough.

Yawning again, Nikki filled Butch's bowl with food and sat down at the table with her mother. Her father, Raymond, had already left for work, leaving them the only two people in the house. The room was filled with the smell of freshly-brewed coffee, and it seemed to wake Nikki up a bit, but not by much. She didn't like coffee anyway - too bitter for her taste. She and her mother talked for a little while, and the latter got up to make breakfast after her coffee was gone.

After a delicious breakfast of fruited pancakes, orange juice and toast - she was very hungry, Nikki ran back upstairs to get ready to meet her friends. It took her twenty minutes to find her music player - she never left the house without it - and she ended up finding it in her laundry basket. How it got there, she couldn't remember. After dressing up in a cute tank top and some shorts, she went to run out the door.

"Hold it, young lady!"

Nikki froze, one foot already outside the door, and slowly turned around. Her mother walked up to her with a knowing smile and held out her hand, and Nikki saw a little blue flip phone.

"You forgot something."

Smiling sheepishly, Nikki took the phone and stuffed it into her pocket, giving her mother a quick kiss on the cheek and uttering a quick "Thanks, Mom!" before running off.

* * *

"It's about time you showed up! What kept you?"

That was the greeting Nikki got when she finally met up with her friends at the beach. All of them had already arrived, and by the look of it they'd been there for at least half an hour.

The first girl was by far the tallest of the group, her jet black hair, highlighted with purple streaks, tied into low, curly pigtails that fell past her shoulders and over her chest. Her steely gray eyes stared at Nikki with disapproval.

Next to her was much shorter girl with short blonde hair and tanned skin, hanging shyly at the edge of the group. She said nothing, surveying the situation behind anxious green eyes.

At the other end of the group was a dark-skinned girl with brown eyes, and wavy black hair that cascaded down her back like a curtain. Her hand was on her hip, and she looked almost bored as she was waiting.

The friend who chastised her, the irate-looking redhead in the middle, had her arms crossed disapprovingly, her green eyes blazing.

"Good morning." Nikki greeted sarcastically, after taking in all their displeased expressions. "Nice to see you too."

"We've been waiting or you for almost an hour!" The redhead griped, tapping her foot.

"I'm sorry, Sandy." Nikki apologized. "I couldn't find my music player. It took me forever to find it."

"You kept us waiting for a _music player_?" Said Sandy, who looked offended.

"That, and I had to walk all the way here from my house."

"Drop it, Sandy." Said the tall girl, who cut in just as Sandy was ready to retort. "She may have been late, but she's here now. That's what matters. Now let's go."

The finality in the purple-highlighted raven's voice was enough to stop Sandy from scolding Nikki further. She then turned and walked towards the beach, the blonde shyly following behind her in order to escape the confrontation. The dark-skinned girl shot the two of them a look and followed suit, leaving the two of them lagging behind.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you." Sandy said.

"It's okay." Said Nikki. "If I had to wait an hour for someone to show up, I would have been mad too."

The redhead nodded, and they were silent for a moment as they made their way across the sand.

"So..." Sandy began, breaking the short silence. "Where _was_ your music player?"

"Somehow it ended up in my laundry basket. I had to dig through a week's worth of clothes before I found it." Nikki explained.

"Lucky you found it before laundry day."

"Yeah, I know."

They finally found their spot after a couple of minutes. Getting out the beach tent they brought with them, Sandy was preparing to set it up.

"Hey Harry, Cassie, help me set this up."

Harry nodded and went over to help. Her real name is "Harriet." "Harry" was just a nickname; but only her friends could call her that. Anyone else would incur her gothic wrath. Being the tallest of all of them, Harriet grabbed the top of the tent and kept it stable. Meanwhile, Cassie, which was short for "Cassandra," helped the redhead put the pieces together. They finished after a few minutes, and soon they had all their stuff underneath it and were taking off their clothes, revealing their swimsuits. None of them went out into the sun until after they were finished applying sunscreen; especially Nikki and Harriet, who were both fair-skinned.

"Come on," Sandy urged. "Let's go in the water already!"

"Hang on, let me put my hair up." Said the dark-skinned girl, named Maggie, who was in the process of putting her long curtain of hair in an updo. She always hated getting her hair wet.

Nikki, who was tying up her own hair, shrugged. "Okay, you do that." She said, and she went to join Sandy at the water's edge. Meanwhile, Cassandra had gone off looking for sand dollars and Harriet was still under the tent reading a book; she never did like going out in the sun.

"Hurry up, Maggie!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Finally finished with her hair, Maggie ran over, beach ball in hand, and they began tossing it around. For a good ten minutes they tossed and hit the ball back and forth, occasionally having to go and retrieve it when it went in the sand. Sometimes it would go out into the water, and Nikki or Sandy would be the one to bring it back. Maggie responded with weak slaps every time Sandy spiked the ball to her or Nikki tossed it over exceptionally hard. She cringed every time a wave came, convinced the water would splash over her. Eventually she had enough and went over to sit in the sun instead, leaving Nikki and Sandy to be as rough as they pleased.

"Guys." Harriet called out suddenly. When the others stopped what they were doing and looked at her, she simply pointed to an unpleasant scene that was unfolding.

Further down the beach, there was Cassandra, surrounded by a group of hostile-looking girls. Though her back was facing them, they could tell by her posture that she was uncomfortable and scared. The girls around her were walking up on her, waving their fingers in her face accusingly and yelling at her while she was stuttering out apologies. Cassandra was not only the shortest girl in the group, but she was also extremely shy and often broke down under pressure. It was only a matter of time before she burst into tears.

"Who do you think you are, huh?" They could hear the blonde, who appeared to be the leader, yelling at her.

"I-I'm sorry..." Cassandra apologized for what seemed like the fiftieth time, her voice starting to crack. "I-I was just looking for sand dollars..."

"Sand dollars?" The girl sneered. She waved her curly blonde hair out of her face flamboyantly. "You get in our way and nearly make us trip over your stupid ass because of some stupid _sand dollars_? Those are for stupid tourists!"

"Please..." Cassandra was close to tears now. "I didn't mean t-to get in your way... I'm sorry..."

"Sorry doesn't cut it." The blonde said coldly. "You need to be taught a lesson. Give me that bucket!"

Cassandra must have known what the girl was planning to do, for she started hugging the bucket of sand dollars closer to her and attempted to back away. But she was surrounded by the blonde's friends, who stopped her from going anywhere. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and she was on the verge of a breakdown, but none of her aggressors seemed to care. They were insisting on punishing her for an imagined crime. The response was immediate; Nikki, who was in possession of the ball, tossed it aside as she and Sandy got out of the water, not caring where it went; Maggie jumped out of her chair so fast, she almost fell into the sand; Harriet closed her book with a snap and stalked over, her steely eyes betraying her stoic face.

"No... please..." She pleaded.

"Give it to me!" The blonde ordered as she grabbed the bucket handle. "I'll smash those stupid things!"

"No!" Cassandra cried out desperately, holding on to the bucket for dear life.

"I said _give it to me,_ you little-!"

" _ **HEY**_!"

Everyone froze. The blonde and her posse all turned and saw Nikki and her group approaching with dangerous looks on their faces. Nikki and Sandy both had their hands balled into fists, Harriet was cracking her knuckles threateningly, and Maggie had removed her earrings on the way there and had them in her hand. At the sight of them, Cassandra was overcome with relief.

"Well, well, well." The group's leader cooed at the sight of the brunette, smirking maliciously. "If it isn't little Nikki and her pack of misfits."

"Leave her alone, Monique." Nikki said in a forceful voice.

"I'm not doing anything to her." The blonde replied snottily. "We're just talking."

"Oh, really?" Nikki replied coolly. "Looks more like you're harrassing her."

"Stay out of it, trash." One of the girls, who looked like Monique's exact double, but with brown hair, snapped at her. "Your stupid friend caused this. We're just resolving the matter."

"Shut up, Bella." Nikki snapped back, her lip curling. Bella made a noise, and looked affronted, but didn't say anything more. She turned back to Monique. "I'm giving you one chance. Let go of that bucket and walk away, and we can all go about our business."

"Or what?" Monique challenged, hands still clamped around the bucket handle, not letting go despite Cassandra's attempts to pull away. "What'll you do if we don't?"

Monique's friends all scoffed and giggled, looking sure of themselves. Harriet had Sandy by the arm, keeping her from rushing over and bashing the blonde's face in; though they all wanted to do the same thing.

Nikki looked Monique dead in her eyes, and said in a deadly serious voice that was cold as ice, " _Clear off, or I'll bash your face in._ "

While the other girls were starting to get scared, the two dopplegangers laughed mockingly.

"Touch me, you piece of trash, and I'll call my daddy." Monique threatened, smirking as if she had won. "He knows people in the police department. Not only will you be arrested, but your dad will be fired!"

"Yeah!" Bella agreed, with an identical smirk on her face. "Besides, we outnumber you. Do you really think you and your gang of rejects can beat _all_ of us?"

Harriet had let go of Sandy at this point, and they, along with Maggie, advanced upon the gang threateningly. They stood beside Nikki, whose eyes were still locked with Monique's as they glared at each other.

" _Try us_." Nikki responded, stone-faced. "So what if we're outnumbered? That hasn't stopped us before. You of all people should know that."

Monique's, and also Bella's, smirk faltered. Nikki knew she had won, just by the looks on their faces. This wasn't the first time they had an altercation. Monique and Bella had been Nikki's enemies for as long as she could remember. They were both on the cheer squad, with Monique being the leader, and they embodied every negative cheerleader stereotype; skinny, popular (despite their rotten attitudes, people always tried to get on their good side, lest they suffer the consequences), snobby bimbos that were as smart as a bag of rocks. Their father - yes, they are sisters; twins, in fact - was the principal of the local high school, which they all went to, something his two daughters often used to bully and push others around and get away with more than anyone else could. The twins would also harrass Nikki at every opportunity, provoking her so they could get her into trouble. But despite not being geniuses, they knew better than to take Nikki on by themselves, always being surrounded by their posse, which consisted mainly of their fellow cheerleaders. They had enough experience with Nikki to know that she was a fighter, and she, along with her friends, could take on their gang and come out of it victorious more than once.

After a tense moment, Monique regained her composure and straightened herself up. She huffed, flipping her hair again.

"Whatever." She said haughtily. "Trash like you isn't worth it."

Roughly shoving the bucket of sand dollars back into Cassandra's arms, and nearly knocking her over in the process, the blonde let out a loud "Hmph!" and stormed off importantly, nose up in the air, with Bella and the rest of her posse following suit.

"You okay, sweetie?" Maggie asked, concern filling her voice as she went over to Cassandra, who was trembling, and put her arms around her.

"U-Uh-huh..." Cassandra replied shakily.

"Lowlife cowards. They always pick on Cassie when we're not around." Sandy growled, glaring at the girls' retreating backs. "Leave it to the Alpha Bitch Twins to ruin our morning."

"They're not going to ruin our morning." Nikki said adamantly. "They can try, but they won't. Now come on," She continued, her demeanor returning to normal. "Let's go back to having fun."

"But what if they come back?" Cassandra asked fearfully.

"Then I'll knock their teeth in." Harriet said, expression as stoic as ever, holding up her clenched fist. This made Cassandra laugh a little.

* * *

Nikki returned home a few hours later, the skin on her shoulders and back slightly burned from her - exhausting - day at the beach. After the altercation with Monique and her gang, they went back to playing. Cassandra felt better after a few minutes of consoling, and ended up collecting enough sand dollars to decorate a wall.

After showering and rubbing aloe on her burns, Nikki decided that she wanted to go to Destiny Island. Taking her bag, she once again went out the door.

Apparently no one decided to go to the island that day, for the boats were all still there. Taking one of them, Nikki took the oars and began to paddle. When she reached the island, she tethered the boat to the dock and began to walk around. She could still see the main island from the shore, but it seemed so far away. Maybe that's what she liked about it. She was away from the noise, from school, and, most importantly, from Monique and Bella.

Feeling the edge of the water against her toes, she looked down and saw a little pink shell in the sand. Bending down to pick up the shell, she saw it was the exact same kind of shell her sister used to make their Wayfinders. Nikki's was made of blue shells. Just like her music player, her Wayfinder was another thing she never left the house without. She was carrying it in her pocket at this very moment. Though she didn't know how to make one, she still collected shells. Kairi had promised to teach her how, though. Stuffing the shell into a small bag, Nikki put in her ear buds, turned on the music player, and let the music fill her ears as she combed the beach looking for more shells. She spent the next few minutes picking up shells, only stopping when she had filled the bag. She then settled herself down on a towel she had laid on the sand, looking up at the sky before closing her eyes.

It was so quiet.

But then...

Suddenly she could feel another presence on the island. She doesn't have ESP or anything, something in her just knew. Opening her eyes, she scanned the shore, looking for signs of another person. When she looked, however, her boat was still the only one at the dock. She looked all around her, not finding a trace of anyone until her eyes landed on a certain palm tree; the same tree that Sora, Riku and Kairi always sat on.

But they weren't there. A stranger was sitting on the palm tree; a stranger wearing a black coat, the hood up concealing their face. The outfit was certainly strange. The coat seemed to be made of leather, and the boots were leather also. Weren't they hot in that getup? She didn't know if they were a boy or a girl, but her question was answered when they removed their hood.

It was definitely a boy; a young boy, possibly the same age as Sora, with big blue eyes and windswept blonde hair. He didn't seem to have noticed her, for he kept staring out into the horizon.

Not knowing who this boy was, though he seemed oddly familiar, Nikki opted to return to the main island. She quietly gathered her things and headed to the boat.

* * *

For the next several days afterward, Nikki went back to the island to see if the boy would show up. Some days he did, some days he didn't. But one thing was for sure; he went to the island for the same reason she did... for peace.

He did notice her after a while. At first he would disappear at the sight of her, as if she had caught him doing something illegal. Most of the time, though, they stayed away from each other, each letting the other have their space.

Nikki knew that this boy wasn't from the islands because she had never seen him in school. Where he was from, though, she had no clue, but she figured the coat he was wearing was a clue.

She tried telling her friends about the mysterious boy, but none of them believed he even existed. They tried telling her he was a ghost, but ghosts can't go around picking stuff up, and she knew just by looking at him that he was solid. The only ones that had a significant response to her claims were Sora, Riku and Kairi.

It was a beautiful, balmy summer day, and everyone was gathered for a small party. They were sitting at a picnic table, and while their friends were all goofing around and playing games, the four of them were engaged in a serious conversation. Nikki had asked to talk to them away from everyone else so that she could tell them what she saw, hoping that someone would believe her. To her relief, they seemed to be listening to what she had to say, and didn't simply dismiss it like everyone else did.

"You said you saw a boy on the island?" Sora inquired curiously.

"Yeah." Nikki confirmed. "I thought I was alone, but I looked and there he was, sitting on the palm tree. I don't think he noticed me, though. He was just staring off into space."

"What did he look like?" Asked Kairi.

"He was young, I know that. He didn't look any older than you guys. He had blue eyes, short blonde hair, and he was wearing some weird black coat."

At the words "black coat," their faces suddenly turned serious as they exchanged worried looks with one another. Neither one of them said a word, as if they were communicating telepathically. Nikki didn't undestand why they were responding this way.

"Is something wrong?" Nikki asked slowly, eyeing them warily.

Her question seemed to snap them out of it, for they were looking at her again.

"Oh, it's nothing," Kairi said reassuringly, forcing a smile as she waved it off. "You don't need to worry about it."

"But just to be safe, you need to stay away from him," Riku said very sternly, arms crossed.

"But why?" Nikki asked defiantly. "I've seen him, and he looks harmless. He's just a kid."

"Doesn't matter." Said Riku unwaveringly. " _He_ may be harmless, but the crowd he hangs around with isn't. You're better off just staying away."

"Riku's right." Sora agreed. "You should listen to him. Not that we don't think you can take care of yourself or anything," He added quickly after seeing her glare, "but those weirdos in the coats aren't people to be messed with. They're just bad news."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Nikki." Kairi chimed in, her face and voice much softer than Riku's. "We just want you to be safe."

Not only was Nikki offended, but she was hurt. It's not like she didn't know about their past adventures. When the three of them mysteriously vanished a year ago, she pressed them for answers as soon as they got back and got enough information out of them to fill a book. She knew that Sora was a Keyblade wielder, and Riku as well, and that they battled creatures called Heartless and Nobodies in their quest to rescue Kairi and return home. However, that was as much as they would tell her. They didn't elaborate on what Heartless and Nobodies were, how they came to possess their strange key-shaped weapons, and they wouldn't explain anything about their main enemies; some guy called 'Ansem' and 'Organization XIII.'

She couldn't believe it! Not only were they not telling her anything, but they were treating her like a little kid. What did they think, that she was a helpless little five-year-old? "Stay away from him," they said. "We just want you to be safe," they said. They were friends, but suddenly she felt as if they didn't have any faith in her to be able to handle herself or even trust her with knowing the full story. Hearing them say all that just made her want to talk to the boy even more.

"Gee." Nikki spat bitterly, moving to stand. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys."

And with that, she got up from the table and stormed away, all relief she had felt earlier being replaced by irritation. As she walked away, she could hear the trio whispering to each other anxiously, but ignored it and went to join Harriet, who was enjoying a book under the tree. Sitting with her knees up to her chest, crossed arms rested upon said knees, she glared at the trio, only stopping and looking the other way when they looked her way. They eventually left, casting her apologetic looks as they did so, Nikki glowering at them all the while.

* * *

They had to have been wrong. There was nothing about this kid that was dangerous. He did the same thing every time he came to the island. He would either sit on the palm tree, pick shells off the beach, or simply walk around. He seemed to notice that she was watching him, for he would watch her sometimes, more often than not from a hiding place. Never did he make an attempt to attack her or scare her away.

Not once, however, in all this time, did they speak to each other.

A week later, it was still the same routine. Nikki would go to the island, and she and the boy were so used to each other at this point that they went about their business without ever bothering, or even speaking to, each other.

It was sunset when she returned home. She had just been out with her friends, and they had gone to the local mall, where they played video games in the arcade for a good five hours. As soon as she walked in the door, Butch went up to her, whining, with a leash in his mouth.

"Aw, come on, Butch," Nikki moaned tiredly. "I just got back. I'll take you for a walk tomorow."

But Butch was persistent. He whined and pushed the leash towards her, growling when she ignored him. Every time she went to move around him, he would block her, still looking up at her expectantly.

"Ugh..." She groaned. " _Fine_. I'll take you for a stupid walk. But just around the block, got it?"

Butch seemed satisfied with this, for he started wagging his tail and whining excitedly. Grabbing the leash from his mouth, she fastened it to his collar, grabbed some dog bags and let Butch lead her out the door.

Unfortunately for Nikki, once around the block turned into several blocks. Butch just kept pulling her onward, and kept going even when she tried pulling him back towards home. They had walked for little over an hour before Butch was satisfied and began leading them back home. He led her back through the streets, when all of a sudden he stopped in his tracks. Nikki saw the fur on his back stand on end and his ears flatten as he growled.

"Butch? What's wrong?" She asked, but he ignored her, continuing to look straight ahead. Following his gaze, Nikki looked down the darkening street and saw a cloaked figure staring at them from around a corner. Judging by the size and build, she wondered if it was the same boy she had seen on Destiny Island.

"Can I help you?" Nikki called out to the figure.

At her voice, the boy flinched and ran away, making Butch start barking insanely. Rearing himself up on his hind legs, he tried yanking on the leash in order to give chase.

"Hey! Wait!"

With Butch running ahead, Nikki ran over to the corner to follow the boy. But when she rounded the corner, there was no one there. In fact, the road was a dead end. The street was lined with fences bordering people's yards, and unless he jumped one of them, there was no way the boy would have been able to disappear as quickly as he did. It was as if he had simply vanished.

"But..." Nikki stuttered, bewildered. "But I saw him go this way. How..?"

She tried scanning the area, but it had grown too dark to see anything. She didn't know if it was the same boy or not. All she knew was that what just happened was by far the strangest thing she had ever seen happen here.

"I wonder what that was about. Eh, whatever. Come on, Butch. Let's go home."

The Shepherd, who was so keen to chase the boy before, was more than happy to go home at this point. He turned around and began dragging Nikki along with him. As Butch dragged her back in the direction towards home, Nikki took some time to think. She wondered if that was the same boy she had seen on Destiny Island. It was odd that she never saw another boat besides hers docked at the island. How was he getting there if he wasn't using one? And if the boy she saw really was him, how did he manage to disappear without a trace?

"That was really weird."

* * *

The following day, Nikki didn't breathe a word of what happened the night before to her friends, knowing that they wouldn't believe her. And if she mentioned it to Sora, he, Riku and Kairi would just respond the same way they did last time; telling her it was nothing to concern herself with, but at the same time to stay as far away from that boy as possible. The way they were talking, it was as if the kid was a mass murderer or something. To add to the mystery, the three of them had started whispering anxiously to each other as she walked away. She knew right away that they were hiding something, and was considering confronting them, but she knew that Riku wouldn't tell her anything and would likely prevent her from getting anything out of Sora and Kairi.

In a foul mood, Nikki decided that she wanted to go to the island, in order to escape it all.

It was quiet when she got there, as most kids were going to the amusement park and the mall instead of the island, which meant she had it all to herself. She settled herself in the shade of some palm trees, and closed her eyes as she listened to the seagulls and the waves crashing on the shore. Hours passed as she laid contentedly beneath the trees. After a while, her anger and hurt faded away, and she was finally able to think rationally. This was a boy she didn't know, who obviously wasn't from the islands, and though he didn't look like a threat, looks can be deceiving. But it was hard to believe that this kid was dangerous at all. Maybe if she could just talk to him...

Just as Nikki opened her eyes to check her phone for the time, she saw a swirling dark void appear by the big palm tree. Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, Nikki got up and moved closer, and saw a small figure emerge from the strange black mass. The figure removed their hood, and though their back was to her, Nikki recognized them as the boy that had been coming there for days.

This was it. Now was her chance to finally talk to him.

"Hey!" She called out.

At her voice, the boy flinched and turned around to face her, his blue eyes were wide with shock, and it was obvious he wasn't expecting her to even be there, let alone start talking to him. An internal conflict was evident on his face, as if he was debating with himself on what he should do.

"It's okay," She reassured, stopping halfway across the bridge. "I just want to talk to you."

But the boy didn't seem keen to talk to her; in fact, he was backing away, keeping his mouth shut. A black void appeared behind him, but he kept his eye on her, backing into the void.

"Hey! Wait a minute! Where are you going?"

He ignored her, turning on his heel and running straight into the void, disappearing into its swirling, inky blackness.

"Wait!"

Despite every instinct telling her to stay away from it, Nikki ran towards the black mass just as it began to close. Managing to make it inside before it closed, Nikki immediately found herself surrounded by darkness. It was dark and cold, and she had no way of knowing which direction she ought to go. No matter where she looked, black was all she saw until she found a glimmer of hope; what looked like an exit in the distance. She ran towards it, hoping that it was a way out of this endless sea of black, and hoping even more that this exit would take her back to the island. When she finally reached the opening, what she found on the other side was shocking.

When the darkness faded, Nikki found herself, not on the island, but in the middle of a large city. Despite the lights in the windows, and the lit street lights, there wasn't a single person on the streets, making the city look empty. Instead of a bright blue sky and a shining sun, a deep blue-black sky, completely devoid of stars hung over her head. In the middle if the sky was a gigantic, heart-shaped moon, which she found very strange. The boy was nowhere to be found.

But the boy was the least of her worries now.

"Where am I? What is this place?"

* * *

To be continued...


	2. The Castle in the Sky

**Banshee: Hello everyone, and welcome to the first chapter of the new and improved "Life with Organization XIII!" In the time I spent on hiatus, I decided that I wasn't satisfied with the original version and am currently giving it a complete overhaul. Some things will stay the same, while other things will change; naturally. I will write and update as often as I can. Check my profile for any updates, and the Axel/Nikki genderbend story poll is still going, so feel free to cast your vote. Okay, enough talk. Go ahead and enjoy the chapter! :)**

* * *

Chapter One: The Castle in the Sky

* * *

Recap:

 _"You said you saw a boy on the island?" Sora inquired curiously._

 _"Yeah." Nikki confirmed. "I thought I was alone, but I looked and there he was, sitting on the palm tree. I don't think he noticed me, though. He was just staring off into space."_

 _"What did he look like?" Asked Kairi._

 _"He was young, I know that. He didn't look any older than you guys. He had blue eyes, short blonde hair, and he was wearing some weird black coat."_

 _At the words "black coat," their faces suddenly turned serious as they exchanged worried looks with one another. Neither one of them said a word, as if they were communicating telepathically. Nikki didn't undestand why they were responding this way._

 _"Is something wrong?" Nikki asked slowly, eyeing them warily._

 _Her question seemed to snap them out of it, for they were looking at her again._

 _"Oh, it's nothing," Kairi said reassuringly, forcing a smile as she waved it off. "You don't need to worry about it."_

 _"But just to be safe, you need to stay away from him," Riku said very sternly, arms crossed._

 _"But why?" Nikki asked defiantly. "I've seen him, and he looks harmless. He's just a kid."_

 _"Doesn't matter." Said Riku unwaveringly. "_ He _may be harmless, but the crowd he hangs around with isn't. You're better off just staying away."_

 _"Riku's right." Sora agreed. "You should listen to him. Not that we don't think you can take care of yourself or anything," He added quickly after seeing her glare, "but those weirdos in the coats aren't people to be messed with. They're just bad news."_

 _"Please don't take this the wrong way, Nikki." Kairi chimed in, her face and voice much softer than Riku's. "We just want you to be safe."_

 _Not only was Nikki offended, but she was hurt. It's not like she didn't know about their past adventures. When the three of them mysteriously vanished a year ago, she pressed them for answers as soon as they got back and got enough information out of them to fill a book. She knew that Sora was a Keyblade wielder, and Riku as well, and that they battled creatures called Heartless and Nobodies in their quest to rescue Kairi and return home. However, that was as much as they would tell her. They didn't elaborate on what Heartless and Nobodies were, how they came to possess their strange key-shaped weapons, and they wouldn't explain anything about their main enemies; some guy called 'Ansem' and 'Organization XIII.'_

 _She couldn't believe it! Not only were they not telling her anything, but they were treating her like a little kid. What did they think, that she was a helpless little five-year-old? "Stay away from him," they said. "We just want you to be safe," they said. They were friends, but suddenly she felt as if they didn't have any faith in her to be able to handle herself or even trust her with knowing the full story. Hearing them say all that just made her want to talk to the boy even more._

 _"Gee." Nikki spat bitterly, moving to stand. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys."_

 _And with that, she got up from the table and stormed away, all relief she had felt earlier being replaced by irritation. As she walked away, she could hear the trio whispering to each other anxiously, but ignored it and went to join Harriet, who was enjoying a book under the tree. Sitting with her knees up to her chest, crossed arms rested upon said knees, she glared at the trio, only stopping and looking the other way when they looked her way. They eventually left, casting her apologetic looks as they did so._

 _..._

 _Just as Nikki opened her eyes to check her phone for the time, she saw a swirling dark void appear by the big palm tree. Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, Nikki got up and moved closer, and saw a small figure emerge from the strange black mass. The figure removed their hood, and though their back was to her, Nikki recognized them as the boy that had been coming there for days._

 _This was it. Now was her chance to finally talk to him._

 _"Hey!" She called out._

 _At her voice, the boy flinched and turned around to face her, his blue eyes were wide with shock, and it was obvious he wasn't expecting her to even be there, let alone start talking to him. An internal conflict was evident on his face, as if he was debating with himself on what he should do._

 _"It's okay," She reassured, stopping halfway across the bridge. "I just want to talk to you."_

 _But the boy didn't seem keen to talk to her; in fact, he was backing away, keeping his mouth shut. A black void appeared behind him, but he kept his eye on her, backing into the void._

 _"Hey! Wait a minute! Where are you going?"_

 _He ignored her, turning on his heel and running straight into the void, disappearing into its swirling, inky blackness._

 _"Wait!"_

 _Despite every instinct telling her to stay away from it, Nikki ran towards the black mass just as it began to close. Managing to make it inside before it closed, Nikki immediately found herself surrounded by darkness. It was dark and cold, and she had no way of knowing which direction she ought to go. No matter where she looked, black was all she saw until she found a glimmer of hope; what looked like an exit in the distance. She ran towards it, hoping that it was a way out of this endless sea of black, and hoping even more that this exit would take her back to the island. When she finally reached the opening, what she found on the other side was shocking._

 _When the darkness faded, Nikki found herself, not on the island, but in the middle of a large city. Despite the lights in the windows, and the lit street lights, there wasn't a single person on the streets, making the city look empty. Instead of a bright blue sky and a shining sun, a deep blue-black sky, completely devoid of stars hung over her head. In the middle if the sky was a gigantic, heart-shaped moon, which she found very strange. The boy was nowhere to be found._

 _But the boy was the least of her worries now._

 _"Where am I? What is this place?"_

* * *

Nikki hadn't moved since she came out of that void.

"I can't believe I did that..." She grumbled, referring to her reckless act of running into the portal. In retrospect, running into a portal, without knowing how you're even going to get out or where you'll end up if you do, is very, _very_ stupid.

As she sat there alone, she suddenly felt an eerie chill crawl up her spine, and when she looked around it seemed like the shadows around her were moving. Pairs of bright yellow, pupil-less eyes suddenly appeared in the darkness, popping up one after another until the darkness was full of them. The owners of these soulless eyes moved out into the street, enabling her to get a good look at them.

Aside from their yellow eyes, these creatures were completely black, with bodies barely resembling a human, and twisted antennae topped their round, spherical heads. Crouched low on the ground, they seemed to be quivering with anticipation at the sight of her, as if they couldn't wait to attack, their three-clawed hands twitching. While many crept out of the shadows, many more were sprouting out of the street.

 _"What are these things?"_

"Hey.. Don't you come near me!" She warned as the shadows started moving towards her. "Stay back! I'm warning you!"

The creatures ignored her and continued to approach her, when one of the jumped forward, and she had to dive sideways to avoid its claws.

"No! Get away from me!"

Not knowing what the creatures were or how to fight them, Nikki came up with another option; turn tail and run. With the shadows pursuing her, she ran as fast as she could down the city's maze-like streets. Reaching an intersection, Nikki saw more shadows appearing out of the ground. With every other road blocked, Nikki ran down the only street not crawling with shadows. Climbing stairs and ramps, she went higher and higher until she found herself on top of a roof. Ahead of her was a giant castle, floating in the sky above the city.

"A castle?"

Hearing a noise, Nikki looked behind her and saw the shadows rounding the corner and closing in on her. As one of them lunged at her, there was a flash of silver as another creature smashed into the shadow, knocking it to the ground. The sudden movement startled her, making her fall backward. Instead of falling off the building like she thought, Nikki found herself hitting a hard surface; a bridge that seemed to lead into the castle. Without looking back, Nikki got on her feet and ran inside the castle, only stopping when she could no longer see the outside.

Now sure that she was safe, for the moment, she stopped to catch her breath. Leaning forward with her back hunched and her hands on her knees to support herself, she drew in long, shaky breaths as she tried to calm her racing heart and the burning in her lungs. Once she caught her breath, which took a few minutes, she took in her surroundings.

The castle was much larger on the inside; only because it was mostly empty space. The walls were dull and gray, and the entire room gave off a cold, empty and foreboding vibe.

 _"What kind of person would live in a place like this?"_

If this were any other situation, Nikki would get out of there as soon as possible. But there was no way she was going back outside and risk running into those _monsters_ again.

Her only choice was to keep moving forward.

* * *

In the castle's library, a steely-haired young man was prowling through the archive section when he suddenly froze in his tracks.

A new presence had appeared in the castle. He could sense it.

There was darkness in their heart, that much was certain. But, then again, every heart possesses darkness; the amount and strength of it just varies from person to person. The amount of darkness he sensed in this one was a little less than average; definitely not a threat. He also picked up on their emotions, confusion and fear being the most prominent - along with annoyance. Also, there was a hint of something sweet... what was it? Vanilla?

"It seems we have a visitor."

* * *

"This way... No, that way... Wait, maybe it's this way."

Nikki continued to wander blindly through the castle's hallways, finding them more like a maze than the streets in the city below. She didn't know how long she had been there, and honestly it felt like hours, but she knew one thing for sure; she was going to have a hell of a time getting out of there.

" _HOW BIG IS THIS STUPID CASTLE_?!" Nikki screamed at the top of her lungs, the sounds echoing off the walls.

"I'll die of old age before I find a way out of this place.."

The brunette heard the sound of footsteps and froze. They were too heavy to be hers, and from the sound of it there was only one other person wandering those hallways besides her.

"Hello?" She called into the seemingly-endless hallway. "Is anybody there?"

No answer; nothing but her own voice echoing off the walls.

"Maybe I'm just hearing things.." She muttered to herself.

Just then, she saw a cloaked figure walk around the corner. The figure was obviously male, since she couldn't see any evidence that proved otherwise. The way he was walking suggested that he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings; it looked more like he was dancing. The one thing that stood out the most to Nikki was his outfit; a black cloak with somewhat form-fitting sleeves with black gloves and boots. His face wasn't visible, hidden under the coat's hood. It was the same outfit as the one worn by the boy she saw at Destiny Island. Maybe they knew each other.

"Um.. Hello?" She called to the figure. When he didn't respond, she stomped her foot and shouted " _HEY_!"

The figure stopped and reached under the hood of his coat, pulling out, what looked like, an earphone for an iPod. He looked around, and froze when he saw Nikki.

"Uh. Hi there." She said, waving awkwardly. "Can you help me? I'm a little lost."

At first, the figure didn't respond, as if he was analyzing the situation and weighing his options. After about a minute, something inside him snapped and he panicked, turning around and running away. Nikki managed to catch a frightened "Uuuwwaaahhh!" as he ran.

"Hey!" Nikki yelled after him. "Come back!"

She ran after the figure, trying to catch him before he rounded the corner. But he was faster than her, and was gone before she could grab him. The male was running like the devil was on his heels, his arms flailing around frantically as he rounded the corner. She followed him, but skidded to a stop when there was no sign of the figure in the massive corridor.

It wasn't like there were any doors in this hallway. It was just one straight wall all the way down. There was nowhere for the man to hide, and yet he was gone; as if he'd vanished.

" _What the…? Where'd he go?"_ She thought, trying to listen for any footsteps. She gave up listening after a few seconds, crossing her arms in a huff as she said, "That's the second person to run away from me today."

Hearing a small shuffling sound, Nikki turned around and saw the figure poking his head out from behind another corner.

"Aha! There you are!"

He flinched, knowing that he had been spotted, and disappeared around the corner again.

"Hey! Come back!"

Following him around the corner, Nikki found that he had led her to a dead end.

"What're you running away for?" She asked him.

He didn't answer.

The brunette sighed exasperatedly. "First that kid and now you. Why do you people always run away? What do you think I'm gonna do, bite you? I just want to know where the hell I am, and, more importantly, how I can get back home before my parents find out I'm gone and have a freaking heart attack. Let me repeat myself; I just. Want. To go. Home. That's not too much to ask for, is it? Well? _Is it_?"

The figure sat there for a moment, as if arguing with himself about what he should do next. The next thing Nikki knew, swirls of black and purple had engulfed the figure and then disappeared completely, taking him along with them.

"H-How did he do that?" She asked no one in particular.

Suddenly Nikki felt the same cold feeling that she experienced in the void, only this time it was behind her.

"Sorry about this.."

That was all she heard before she was hit in the back of the head. After that, everything went black and she tumbled to the floor in an unconscious heap.

"Hey, whaddya know. That trick actually works."

"Good work, Demyx. You caught the intruder."

Demyx flinched instinctively at the voice, and turned around to see three figures emerge from a dark portal. All three of them were wearing the same coat as Demyx, but with slight variations. The shortest one in the group had slightly bell-shaped sleeves, while the sleeves on the other two were more form-fitting. Two out of the three males were not wearing their hoods.

The shortest male had steely-blue hair, with a huge section of it covering the right side of his face. The one eye that was visible was a bright aqua.

The other hood-less male was tall and skinny, with bright, spiky red hair that went down past his shoulders. Reverse-teardrop markings rested just under his green eyes.

The figure with the hood, hands lazily on his hips, casually walked over to Nikki's unconscious body. He stood over her, walking around as he gave her a brief look over, occasionally poking her with his foot.

"Well, well, would you look at that." He said. "It's a human; just like Zexion said. Hm. She's pretty cute. Can we keep her Zexy, please~?"

'Zexion' said nothing, rolling his eyes at the nickname.

"What are we going to do with her?" Asked the redhead.

"Her fate is up to the Superior to decide." Zexion said simply. "For the time being, we'll keep her where we can keep an eye on her. Demyx. Take her to the Soundless Prison."

Demyx slumped his shoulders. "Whaa?" He whined. "Why me?"

"Because _you_ caught her." Zexion deadpanned.

"By accident!"

"Are you seriously arguing with me right now? All you have to do is drop her off in a cell; or are you too lazy to do that _one little thing_?"

"... Uh..."

"I think that answers your question, Zexion." The hooded man chimed in. "Kid's about as lazy as they come. You're better off asking someone else."

"Fine. You do it then, Xigbar."

In response to this, 'Xigbar' jumped back a little and put his hands up. "Whoa there, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I never said _I'd_ do it."

Zexion groaned in exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Ugh.. Forget it." He turned to the redhead. "Axel, you take her."

The redhead, now dubbed 'Axel,' shrugged his shoulders. "No problem." He said.

Walking over to Nikki, Axel knelt down, hooking one arm under her knees while wrapping his other around her shoulders. He lifted her up with little to no effort, carrying her bridal-style.

"Aw, look at her, she looks so peaceful." The redhead said fondly, after taking in her features. He added with a cheeky grin, "I agree with Xigbar. Let's keep her~."

Zexion's visible eye twitched. "Quit screwing around and just take her to her cell." He growled.

"Fine, fine. Tou~chy~."

"Oh, by the way, before I forget..." Xigbar began addressing Demyx, after Axel had warped away. "Demyx, Saïx wants you to report to The Grey Area; he says he has a mission for you."

"Another one?" Demyx whined. "But I just got back!"

"Look Kid, it's either you go there, or he's gonna come find you; and believe me, you don't want him to come looking for you. Remember what happened last time?"

Just like with Nikki, Demyx weighed his options. It was easy for him to run away from the human, for in the end she couldn't do anything to him. The only thing she could do was attack him with a flurry of punches and kicks, which he could easily avoid. It wasn't like she had a Keyblade, or anything. She was just a normal girl. Saïx on the other hand wasn't so easy to run from, and his berserk state was nothing less than terrifying. When he thought about it, the last thing he wanted was for Saïx to come looking for him.

"Oh, okay..." He drawled, slumping his shoulders again. "I'll go..."

As he warped away, Xigbar chuckled.

"Works every time." He said, amused. "So," He said after a brief silence. "what do you think?"

"About the human?" Said Zexion. "She is not a threat. The amount of darkness I sensed within her is the same as any other human; nothing even remotely extraordinary."

Xigbar scoffed. "Well _duh_. Anyone with half a brain can see that she's not a threat to us. The big question is, what is Xemnas going to do with her?"

"Whatever he sees fit."

"Maybe he'll let us keep her. We could use a cute little errand girl."

Zexion sighed. Of course he would say that. The old pervert. He couldn't wait to get back to his books.

* * *

Axel arrived at the Soundless Prison, carrying a still-unconscious Nikki in his arms. A couple of Dusks opened the door to a nearby cell, which he promptly walked into and set her down on floor, careful not to wake her up. After giving her a brief look over, he decided that she was pretty cute. At first he wondered how an ordinary human had made it to The World That Never Was. Sure, she wasn't the _only_ human to come to this world, and also enter the castle, but, due to the lack of darkness in her heart, which was weak according to Zexion, she couldn't create a portal. So how did she get here? Now that he thought about it, Roxas _had_ mentioned seeing a girl when he went to Destiny Island; a girl that knew he was going there, and figured she must have followed him back to the castle.

A sound suddenly jerked Axel out of his thoughts; a loud, yet melodic sound, that seemed to be coming from the girl. More specifically, it was coming from her pocket. He reached into her pocket and took out a little blue phone, which was ringing; which would explain the noise, and examined it. It was a flip phone, and he could see a little screen on the front. On the little illuminated window was the word "Mom." So, her mom was calling...

"Sorry sweetheart," He said to her unconscious form. "But I'm gonna have to take this. Can't have you calling for help now, can we?"

Silencing the ringing, Axel stuffed the phone into his pocket and stood back up. As he was walking out of the cell, he stopped right at the entrance to look back at Nikki, staring at her for a few seconds before he shut the cell door behind him.

* * *

To be continued...


	3. Imprisoned

**Banshee: Hello everyone, and here is chapter two! Remember to keep an eye out for any updates, and I will get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter Two: Imprisoned

* * *

Recap:

 _"So... what do you think?"_

 _"About the human?" Said Zexion. "She is not a threat. The amount of darkness I sensed within her is the same as any other human; nothing even remotely extraordinary."_

 _Xigbar scoffed. "Duh. Anyone with half a brain can see that she's not a threat to us. The big question is, what is Xemnas going to do with her?"_

 _"Whatever he sees fit."_

 _"Maybe he'll let us keep her. We could use a cute little errand girl."_

 _..._

 _A sound suddenly jerked Axel out of his thoughts; a loud, yet melodic sound, that seemed to be coming from the girl. More specifically, it was coming from her pocket. He reached into her pocket and took out a little blue phone, which was ringing; which would explain the noise, and examined it. It was a flip phone, and he could see a little screen on the front. On the little illuminated window was the word "Mom." So, her mom was calling..._

 _"Sorry sweetheart, but I'm gonna have to take this. Can't have you calling for help now, can we?"_

* * *

When Nikki woke up, she had no way of knowing how long she had been out; the sky was exactly the same as it was when she first arrived. She would have checked her phone for the time, but when she reached into her pocket it was gone. Either it had fallen out, or the guy in the coat took it.

"Great.." She muttered upon realizing her phone was gone. "I'm trapped in some God-forsaken castle in God knows where, God knows how many miles from home, with no phone.."

Taking in her surroundings, it didn't take much for her to realize that she was in a cell. Small triangular lights in the floor lit up the room, and the walls were a shade of purple which was completely different from the white walls outside. Thick black vertical bars kept her inside. At first, it seemed that she could slip through the bars because they were so far apart, but when she got up and tried to sneak through, she was suddenly launched backward by an unseen force. She was thrown back a few feet, landing on her back.

"A _force field_?" She groaned. "Are you kidding me? Who _are_ these people?"

A mess of black swirls suddenly appeared inside the cell, and Nikki, out of reflex, got up on her feet and went into defense-mode, ready to face what, or who, was about to come out. She was expecting some big guy or a monster to come out of the portal, but was surprised when she saw a small figure emerge; a young boy who looked very familiar; the blonde, windswept hair, the blue eyes... Hey, wait a minute...

"Hey, you're awake." Said the boy with a smile. He held up a tray, which had a piece of pizza and a soda on it. "I brought you some dinner."

"Hey, I know you!" Nikki exclaimed suddenly, pointing a finger at him. "You're the kid I saw on Destiny Island! Why did you run away?"

"I was just minding my own business, and suddenly some stranger sees me and the first thing they do is yell at me? What did you expect me to do?"

"Fair enough," Nikki said. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I just wanted to talk to you."

The boy seemed positively bewildered by her statement. "You... just wanted to talk to me?"

Nikki nodded. "Yeah. I saw you on the island a lot, and I wanted to know who you were. But Sora, Riku and Kairi told me-"

" _Sora_?" The blonde suddenly asked, his blue eyes widening.

"Yeah. They told me you were dangerous and to stay away from you, but I didn't think-"

"You know Sora?"

"Of course I know Sora." Nikki said. "He's my friend. Why? Do you know him?"

"Um..." The boy looked away. "It's complicated." He said.

"Okay.. Anyway, I didn't think you were dangerous at all. So I decided I was going to try to talk to you. But you ran away, into this portal thing. In retrospect, following you was a stupid idea, and now I'm _here_ , in this... Where am I, anyway?"

"You're in The World That Never Was, in The Castle That Never Was." He explained, and Nikki gave him a look. "I know, it sounds weird. But we're all used to it here."

"People actually _live_ here?" Nikki asked with disbelief. With how empty the place was, and no sign of human life whatsoever, in what little she saw of it, it was surprising that there were people living in the castle at all.

"Yeah.. It's big, and boring, but it's home. Here," He said, holding out the tray in his hands. "You should eat this before it gets cold."

"Oh. Thanks." Nikki said, taking the plate and the soda gratefully. "I didn't realize how hungry I was."

She took a bite of the pizza slice, relishing its taste as if it was her first piece of pizza ever. After the ordeal she had earlier, running from shadow creatures and all, what the boy brought for her was like a breath of fresh air. As she ate, the boy sat down on the floor beside her, crossing his legs.

"I'm Nikki." She said, after her slice of pizza was finished; which didn't take long, since she scarfed it down so fast she might as well have just swallowed it whole. "What's your name?"

"I'm Roxas." Said the boy.

"So, Roxas," Nikki began. "How many people live in this castle besides you?"

"There are thirteen of us; fourteen, if you count Naminé."

"Oh. Okay. Do they all wear those weird coats?" When Roxas gave her a confused look, she elaborated. "Before I got knocked out, I ran into this guy that was wearing the same kind of coat you're wearing. Is it some kind of uniform, or something?"

"Oh. Yeah." Roxas said as he fiddled with the drawstings of his coat. "All members of Organization XIII have to wear them."

Nikki raised an eyebrow. "What's Organization XIII?"

Roxas immediately froze, the drawstrings slipping from his hands. The look on his face suggested to Nikki that he said something he wasn't supposed to say.

"Roxas? Are you okay?"

"I shouldn't have said that..." He muttered to himself. "We're not supposed to get involved with people; keep in the shadows, you know? Not many people even know we exist..."

"It's okay," Nikki said reassuringly. "You can tell me about it."

"I don't know if I should... People aren't supposed to know about us."

"I'm in a cell, and my phone is gone. I don't think I'll be telling anyone anything. Besides, if I'm going to be locked up in here, I'd like to know at least a little bit about the people holding me captive."

At first, Roxas was reluctant to say anything, as if he were going to get in trouble. On the other hand, Nikki had a point. Her phone had been taken, so she had no way of contacting anyone outside the castle, and she was a prisoner, so there couldn't be any harm in telling her about the Organization.

"Well... Okay." He said finally, after about a minute of silence. "I'll tell you."

For the next half hour or so, Roxas told Nikki everything he knew about the Organization; the members and their powers, and their goals; to complete Kingdom Hearts and reclaim their lost hearts. He continued by explaining that the Organization was composed of beings called Nobodies, and the difference between them and the Heartless (at least now Nikki knew what those creatures in the city were), and how each were created; Heartless were people who lost their hearts to darkness, and a Nobody being the result of a strong-willed person losing their heart, leaving their will and body behind to act on their own. Roxas went on to tell her that Nobodies, who lacked hearts, also lacked true emotion, using the memories of their old lives - before they lost their hearts - to fabricate their emotions.

When Nikki interrogated Sora, Riku and Kairi after they returned after being missing for a year, they mentioned Heartless, Nobodies and Organization XIII, but never gave her any details. Now she was getting all the information she'd been looking for, and it was from a member of the very organization that the trio had once fought against. It was strange to have an enemy openly spill the beans to her, but she was still angry at Sora and the others for keeping all this from her in the first place, and she couldn't help but think about giving them the verbal beating of a lifetime if she ever got out of there.

"So," Nikki said after Roxas was finished. "Those creatures in the city are called 'Heartless,' and they were people who lost their hearts to darkness, right?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah."

"And if heard you right, Nobodies are also people who lost their hearts, but if their will is strong enough, they remain as shells that linger between light and darkness?"

Roxas nodded again. "That's right."

"Do any of them remember who they used to be?" Nikki asked.

"The Heartless? No." Roxas said. "There are a couple special cases, but mostly they're just shadows that run on instinct. For Nobodies, it depends. Most Nobodies are dimwits; they can't even tell the difference between a photo and the real thing. But all the members of Organization XIII remember who they used to be."

Nikki nodded, satisfied with this answer.

"Do you remember who you were?" She asked.

"Um..." Roxas looked away again. "It's complicated."

"How so?" Nikki pressed him.

"I don't have a lot of memories from before I was 'born,' so I can't fake my emotions like the others can." Roxas began playing with the drawstrings of his coat again, and he was hesitant before he continued. "That's because the person I used to be... still exists."

The brunette gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Earlier, you asked me if I knew Sora. Well, here's how I know him." Roxas took a deep breath before confessing, "I am his Nobody."

It took Nikki a few seconds to register this information, and as soon as she did her jaw dropped. "No way." She said, shocked. " _You're_ Sora's Nobody? But how? Sora would've had to've-"

"Lost his heart." Roxas finished her sentence for her. "He did. Kairi's heart was inside of him, so he had to sacrifice his own heart to save hers. That's how I was born. Sora became a Heartless, but turned back into a human not long after, and re-absorbed all his memories. That's why I don't remember my life before the Organization."

"B-But," Nikki stammered. "How can the two of you exist at the same time?"

"I'm not really sure." Roxas said thoughtfully. "But you're his friend, right? Shouldn't you know all of this already?"

"I should, but when I asked them they only told me the gist of it, and wouldn't go into any details." The brunette said with a bitter tone.

"They probably just didn't want you to get dragged into it."

"I understand that. But still, they disappear for a year, and when they finally come back they don't give me the full story? To be honest, it hurt. I was really worried about them.."

Nikki sighed, hanging her head.

It was silent for a few moments. Roxas shifted his position as he sat next to Nikki, who had her knees drawn to her chest, her head resting on her folded arms.

"I'm sure they're worried about you right now." Roxas said, breaking the silence.

Nikki had no idea how long she had been in the castle at this point, but knew she had been gone long enough for people to notice.

"Yeah..." She sighed. "I was mad at them before, but... now I miss them."

Roxas was about to speak when a portal appeared outside the cell. Out of the swirling blackness a strange creature appeared; a creature with a thin, sinuous body and a cylindrical head that looked like it had a zipper for a mouth. A strange symbol was on its head, and it looked like it was wearing a strange silver jumpsuit. Not long after it appeared, its zipper mouth opened and began to move, as if it were speaking, but Nikki couldn't hear anything. It seemed to be delivering a message, and as soon as it did, it vanished into another portal.

"Um... What was that?" Nikki asked, pointing to where the creature had been.

"That was a Dusk; the weakest and most common Nobody. The Organization likes to use them for recon, relaying messages, and, in some cases, recovery." Roxas said, and Nikki nodded, showing she understood. He got to his feet and smoothed out his coat.

"What did it say to you?"

"It said I'm needed in The Gray Area; it means Saïx has some missions for me."

"And who's Saïx?"

"One of the other members. I'll explain tomorrow."

"Oh.." Nikki said. "Okay then. See you tomorrow."

Roxas smiled and gave her a short nod, then he disappeared into a portal and Nikki was left alone... again.

* * *

Several days had passed since Nikki was first placed in the Soundless Prison. She had kept track of the days by writing on the walls using a dry-erase marker that Roxas had given her, upon her request. So far she had counted six days. For six days, Roxas would come in and give her three meals a day, even sneaking her snacks from time to time. In those days, Nikki was told about the Organization's members; particularly, which ones were friendly and which ones to avoid. It was also mentioned that all the members had ranks, but it had nothing to do with power or authority; it was in the order in which they joined.

The first person he mentioned was their leader, Xemnas, who founded Organization XIII and commanded the power of nothingness. He was remarked to have no emotion whatsoever. According to Roxas, he had a tendency to be melodramatic and make long-winded speeches, which only emphasized how out-of-touch with genuine emotion he really was.

Next was Xigbar, the second member. With the power over space, he could pop up anywhere and send shots from his twin rifles anywhere he pleased. Roxas described him as "someone's 40-year-old uncle trying to be cool," with his surfer accent and tendency to say " _As if_ " all the time, as well as giving the younger Nobody nicknames like "kiddo" or "tiger."

Xaldin was the third member. He weilded six lances and controlled wind. Apparently he was the Organization's cook. He was also pretty impatient, and wouldn't allow Roxas to take breaks when they were on missions together; which, thankfully, wasn't very often. When he wasn't around, Roxas, Axel and Demyx liked calling him "Captain Dreadlocks" and "Muttonchops."

Fourth was Vexen, the intellectual who saw all of life as one big experiment. He liked to pull ranks, even though a member's numeral rank only applies to the order in which they joined Organization XIII and had no impact on their level of authority, but no one really listened to him. Despite his sense of superiority, Vexen was patient with Roxas whn they went on missions together, guiding him and giving him advice.

Number five was Lexaeus. He didn't talk much, saving his words for when he found it necessary to speak. He was also known to listen to Zexion and take his side in an argument, and will often stop others from arguing.

Speaking of Zexion, he was number six. He had a fondness for literature, and would spend hours in the castle's library. Whenever he spoke, he showed his intelligence and politeness, explaining every detail thoroughly. But he also disliked laziness, and always insisted that there was more to be done, even when a job was completed. He could also identify "scents," and was said to be the one who detected Nikki when she first arrived at the castle.

Saïx was number seven of the Organization. As the second-in-command, he passed on orders and gave each member their assigned missions. His most notable feature was the 'X'-shaped scar on the middle of his face. Like Xemnas, he is calm, cold and emotionless, but he could also enter a "berserk state" that gave some members bad memories that they'd rather not talk about..

And then there was Axel, number eight. The Organization's assassin, he tends to get stuck with the "icky jobs," as he puts it. He had power over fire. Roxas described him as laid-back, sarcastic, and smart, and admitted that he always went to Axel for advice, claiming that he thought he knew everything. He was also Roxas' best friend, who took him under his wing when he first joined Organization XIII, being like a big brother to him.

At number nine, we have Demyx. His only strength was reconnaissance. In every other field, he preferred others did the work, and ran at the first sign of trouble. He spent most of his time lazing around playing his sitar.

Luxord was number ten. He could always be seen gambling with some of the other members. His vocabulary was rather advanced, and he liked to talk Roxas' ear off on missions. Nikki was advised to never gamble, or even bet against, Luxord, _ever_.

Next was Marluxia. Like Xemnas, he was dramatic and gave rather long-winded speeches. He was also pretty arrogant, having an air of superiority around some of the other members. In addition, he was known to be deceptive, so he was never to be trusted.

The twelfth member was Larxene. They didn't call her the "Savage Nymph" for nothing. She had a sharp tongue, and had a habit of telling someone what to do rather than asking them. She could also be rather sadistic, and loved bringing people down, so she was best avoided.

And finally, Roxas himself. Having already explained that he was Sora's Nobody, Roxas also possessed his ability to wield the Keyblade.

According to Roxas, he had been ordered to keep an eye on her when he wasn't on missions, and though Nikki didn't like the idea of being under guard, she grew to like Roxas very much and enjoyed the time she spent with him. They could hold a conversation for hours, laughing and joking around as if they had known each other for years. Suddenly, the idea of Roxas being Sora's Nobody made sense; Roxas affected her the same way Sora did, and she developed the same sisterly affection towards the blonde as she had for the spiky-haired brunette.

But whenever she was alone, all she could think about was her family and friends back on the islands. They had to have realized she was missing by now, and were likely worried sick about her. She wouldn't be surprised if her father had organized a full-on manhunt, and was tearing the island apart to find her. Wherever her phone was, she was sure it was ringing like crazy; but after six days, the battery had to have died by now.

Oh, and another thing...

"I _hate_ this cell!" Nikki yelled out as she laid on the floor. Her outburst startled the two Dusks standing guard at the door. "I've been here for nearly a week, and those bastards" - meaning Organization XIII - "don't even have the goddamn common courtesy to give me a bed? They aren't getting any points from me for hospitality, that's for damn sure. I can't take this anymore.. I'll have to ask Roxas if he can get me a sleeping bag. Anything is better than the floor..."

She looked and saw the two Dusks staring at her.

"And what the bloody hell are you two gawking at? Piss off!" She snapped at them.

The Dusks seemed taken aback, almost as if they were wondering what they did wrong, before shooting her looks of indignation and turning their backs on her again. After her initial burst of anger had subsided, Nikki realized she was taking her anger out on mere grunts following orders.

Nikki sighed. "Look, I'm... I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's not your fault. You're just trying to do your job."

At her apology the Dusks turned back to face her, and though they didnt have actual faces, their body language indicated surprise. They must have been so used to being barked at that they didn't even remember what an apology was. Since they were the lowest ranking Nobodies, it was fair to assume they were treated like servants, so they weren't used to being shown kindness either.

"So... are we cool?"

The two Dusks looked at each other for a moment, before looking back at Nikki and nodding.

"Good."

And with that, the Dusks nodded in acknowledgement and went back to their posts at the door. As they stood there, Nikki started to wonder... Roxas probably wouldn't be there for a while, and she was very uncomfortable there on the cell floor. She couldn't leave because of the force field, and she was sure the Dusks would try to stop her if she somehow managed to get out. Perhaps they would be willing to do her a favor...

"Hey guys?" She called out to the Dusks, who glanced over at her. "Do you think you can do me a favor?"

They nodded.

"Can you find me something to sleep on; like a sleeping bag, or something?"

At first, the Dusks just stood there. But suddenly they disappeared, and a moment later they came back with some items; where they got them, she had no idea. One was holding four pillows in its arms, while the other had a large bag. They went over to her cell and put the items down on her side of the bars, looking pleased with themselves.

"Um... Thanks." Nikki thanked them, and they did a little happy dance before returning to their posts.

Not wanting to hurt their feelings, Nikki stuffed the pillows into the bag and laid herself down on it. It wasn't a mattress or a sleeping bag, but at least it was more comfortable than the floor. While the Dusks remained on guard at the door, Nikki stared at the ceiling, finding it just as dismal as the rest of the room. As she laid there, she knew she didn't need a watch to know that the time was moving by agonizingly slow. Because the sky was in a state of perpetual night, she didn't know if it was daytime or not. Luckily, her surroundings were so boring that it was practically lulling her to sleep. But just as she was about to close her eyes...

"Wakey, wakey!" A new voice called out from beyond the bars. "Time for lunch. I hope you like meatball subs~! I got you a nice one. It's _loaded_!"

Nikki immediately sat upright. That isn't Roxas, she thought. Looking towards the cell door, she saw an unfamiliar face on the other side of the bars. While Roxas looked to be about fifteen, this guy could easily be in his early twenties. He was also considerably taller. His dirty-blonde hair was styled in a mohawk/mullet style, with a few strands hanging in his face, and his cyan eyes were twinkling as he gave her a friendly smile. In his hands was a tray, just like the one Roxas carried, with a drink and a fully stuffed meatball sub sitting on it.

"I hope you're hungry, 'cuz Xaldin really outdid himself this time!" The man beamed as he stepped inside the cell.

Nikki didn't move or speak, sitting there on her makeshift bed as she stared at the man intently; which made him slightly nervous. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The longer she stared at him, the more nervous she seemed to be making him. Now that she thought about it, the shoulders of his coat, which were more pointed, and the slightly form-fitting sleeves _did_ look familiar... Then her eyes landed on a familiar pair of earphones dangling from his pocket, and something clicked inside her brain as her eyes widened.

" _You_!" She shrieked, jabbing a finger in his direction.

Something seemed to click in the man's brain as well, for he instinctively flinched even before she threw one of the pillows at him as hard as she could.

"Ah!" The man yelped, dodging it. "Hey! You're gonna make me drop your food!"

Nikki ignored him, throwing another pillow at him. "Wait 'til I get my hands on you, you little git! You're gonna get it for what you did!"

He yelped as he dodged another pillow. "Look, if this is about knocking you out-"

"You hit me in the back of the head, you _ass_!"

"Eee!" Came a squeal as she chucked a third pillow. "I'm sorry, okay? I panicked!"

"As if that's a good excuse!" Nikki shot back, chucking a fourth pillow, which he narrowly avoided. Now that she was out of pillows, she settled for chasing him around the cell. There wasn't a lot of space to run around, so he had a few close calls where she nearly grabbed him by the hood of his coat, but thanks to his natural talent for running away he was able to narrowly avoid her hands, which were poised to grab him by the neck and choke him, likely to death. All the while, he was careful not to drop the food, which was sliding around on the tray. The drink, meanwhile, had already fallen off.

Eventually, the two of them got tired of running, and had stopped to catch their breath. Both were hunched over, sucking in as much air as they could as their lungs burned. The drink, a bottle of water, had rolled over next to Nikki's feet. She bent down to pick it up, unscrewing the cap and downing half of the water. She looked between the half-filled bottle and the man, before sighing; she no longer had the energy to be angry with him. Walking over to him, she held the bottle out to him and said, "Here."

For a moment, he just stood there, his gaze shifting between her and the bottle. When he didn't take it, she said forcefully, "Drink this, or I'll hit you over the head with it."

At her threat, he quickly took the bottle and drank the rest of the water as fast as he could. He said a quick "Thanks" after he finished, and straightened up.

"Okay," He breathed. "I admit it. Hitting you over the head was a bit much."

"A _bit_?"

"Okay, it was a lot much, and I'm sorry. Please don't hit me..."

The two Dusks standing guard had their hands over their mouths, and they seemed to be amused, almost as if they were snickering; after all, what they just witnessed looked like something out of a cartoon.

"Okay, I won't hit you," Nikki said, and the man looked relieved. "but it's not out of mercy. I just don't want to hear you crying afterwards."

The young man scoffed, looking affronted. "What makes you think I'd cry?" He said indignantly.

"With how pathetic you look right now, it isn't much of a stretch to assume you'd cry if I decided to hit you. And I'd rather not hear it." Nikki said coolly, making the male pout. "Jeez, chasing you around made me hungry. Hand me that meatball sub, would you?"

"Tell me your name first." He ordered, but flinched when she glared at him. "I-It's just common courtesy, you know; to introduce yourself?"

"Shouldn't the guy introduce himself first; especially to a woman? It's basic etiquette."

"Yeah, but..." It took a few seconds for him to think of a reply, and when he did, he said triumphantly, "But _you're_ a _guest_ in our castle" - Nikki snorted at the word 'guest' - "and a guest must introduce themselves first. It's basic etiquette."

He was right; he may be a dimwit, but he was right. Nikki gritted her teeth and growled, "I'm Nikki."

"I'm Demyx. See? That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

" _Don't push your luck_." Nikki growled, making Demyx flinch again. "I did what you asked, now please give me my food or I might just eat _you_ instead."

"Okay, okay." He said, handing her the tray quickly.

Nikki took a bite of the meatball sub, and her eyes widened; it was delicious!

"This is good," She said, continuing to munch.

"Yeah, Xaldin's a good cook. But it's never a good idea to be in the kitchen while he's cooking. Knives start flying everywhere... I remember this one time when he was making dinner, and Xigbar thought it was a good idea to go in there and mess with him. He used his power over space to send the knives in different directions, and let's just say ol' Xaldin wasn't too happy about it. Xigbar's already got plenty of scars, but he got some new ones after that stunt. And that's why we're not allowed in the kitchen before dinner time... Wow, you were hungry."

During Demyx's little story, Nikki just kept eating her dinner, not saying a word the entire time. By the time he finished talking, she had finished the meatball sub, leaving the plate, tray and empty water bottle on the floor.

"When you're restricted to just three meals a day, with no snacks inbetween, you tend to get a little hungry." Nikki remarked sourly. "At least Roxas would sneak me something between meals... Hey, where is Roxas anyway? Isn't he supposed to be guarding me?"

"Roxas?" Demyx said. "X-face has him on missions today."

Nikki knew who Demyx was talking about when he said 'X-face' because when Roxas told her about the other members, he mentioned Saïx being the Superior's second-in-command who gave orders and missions to the other members. He also mentioned the 'X'-shaped scar on Saïx's face. This did not stop her from raising an eyebrow at Demyx's little nickname for him. She also took note of the slight disdain in his voice at the mention of the berserker.

"And since Roxas is out," Demyx contined, "I was ordered to keep an eye on you."

 _"Compared to my other options, this guy doesn't seem so bad."_ Nikki thought. _"Maybe he can do me a favor, like those Dusks..."_

"This castle is boring." Nikki drawled, suppressing a yawn. "There's nothing to do in here. Do you guys have anything to pass the time; like games, or books, or _something_?"

"Well, we _do_ have a library," Demyx said thoughtfully. "But I'm not allowed in there anymore... I was in there playing my sitar, and then Xigbar came up behind me and yelled 'Boo!' really loud. I freaked out and some water clones appeared out of nowhere and soaked everything. Zexion kicked us both out, and hasn't allowed us back in since. I tried telling him it wasn't my fault, but he still won't let me in there...

"We do have some games, though," He added after seeing how disappointed she looked about the books. "I can bring some in for you. Would that be okay?"

Nikki couldn't help herself but smile. "That'd be great." She said, her initial anger and annoyance at Demyx replaced with appreciation.

After about twenty minutes, Demyx returned with some classic board games and he and Nikki spent the whole afternoon (according to Demyx it was one in the afternoon) playing them - until the sitar-playing nocturne got called away for a recon mission around four o'clock, and he regretfully left. He didn't take the games with him, instead leaving them with Nikki so she wouldn't be bored.

Though Demyx had gone, she still wasn't alone; the two Dusks, who were watching them with interest the whole time, were still at their guard posts by the door. She invited them to play a game, and, though they were apprehensive at first, she soon found herself teaching them how to play Checkers. They may not have been very intelligent, but they learned quickly enough. Nikki watched their body language carefully, taking note of how they slumped their shoulders in a manner depicting sadness and disappointment when they messed up, and the little happy dances they did when they did something right. Nikki almost forgot what Roxas told her; that Nobodies didn't have hearts, and used their memories of being human to fake emotions. Maybe that was true, maybe it wasn't. But she knew she had to play along if she was going to be held prisoner in this castle - if it meant keeping her sanity...

* * *

Roxas returned from his missions well after dinner time; the kitchen was empty by the time he went in for something to eat, and had already been cleaned and the leftover food put away in the fridge. Axel was still away on a mission, so no one was there to eat with him. Not wanting to eat alone, he warmed up some extra pizza so he could share it with Nikki and tell her about his mission, which was eliminating Heartless in Agrabah and Halloween Town. He had to admit, he did spent a lot of time simply exploring these worlds before he finally got around to fulfilling his objectives.

"That's an awful lot of pizza for one person." A familiar voice rang out, startling Roxas. He froze in the middle of removing the pizza from the microwave. He turned around to find none other than his best friend Axel standing behind him.

"Axel! I thought you were away on a mission."

"I was. I got back early." The redhead said simply. "You didn't answer my question."

The blonde held up the plate. "I just thought I'd go eat with Nikki today, since you were going to be out." He said.

"Nikki?"

"That's her name."

"Ah."

"Do you want to come with me? I'll introduce you." Roxas offered.

Axel waved it off. "That's okay. Xemnas has me on mop duty today, and you know how long that takes. Maybe next time."

"Oh.." Roxas said, crestfallen. He asked hopefully, "Do you need any help?"

Axel smiled and shrugged. "Nah. I'm a big boy, I can handle it." He said, waving it off dismissively.

The younger Nobody shrugged. "Okay, if you say so. Wanna get some ice cream when you're done?"

"Sure thing, buddy. See you later." The redhead added jokingly with a smirk, "Now go and hang out with your girlfriend."

At this, Roxas blushed. "S-She's not my girlfriend!" He stammered, making Axel laugh."It's not funny! Jerk!"

Axel kept laughing, making Roxas' blush darken a few shades, half out of embarrassment and the other half out of irritation before he warped away in a huff. After the blonde left, Axel's laughter died out rather quickly. Now that his best friend was gone, all he had to focus on was the arduous task of mopping the castle floors. He began walking, wondering if he could get the Dusks to do some - and by "some," I mean "a lot" - of the work for him.

As he walked down the hall, he became aware of another presence in the area; one that was watching him.

"Eavesdropping as a nasty habit, you know." Axel said, his voice and expression serious as Xigbar appeared from behind a corner.

"There are worse habits than eavesdropping, Flamesilocks." The sharpshooter pointed out.

"What do you want?"

"I couldn't help but notice that Roxas has been spending a lot of time with our prisoner lately. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were being replaced." Xigbar said nonchalantly, as if he were talking about the weather.

"Roxas would never replace me." Axel said adamantly.

"You sure about that?" Said Xigbar with a sly smile. "He really seems to like her; maybe even more than you."

Axel said nothing, but the fellow Nobody's words struck a chord. He clenched his fists and glared at Xigbar, who seemed unaffected by his fiery glare and uncharacteristic scowl. But he _did_ feel the air around him get hotter as a result of the redhead's anger.

"Whoa, hey now." He surrendered, jumping back and putting his hands up. "No need to get mad. I'm just kidding."

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Axel said.

"Not particularly, no." Xigbar chuckled. "But I _do_ need to have a word with our Superior. I'll catch ya later, Flamesilocks!"

With that, Xigbar left, leaving Axel standing alone in the hallway.

Of course he knew that the jerk was kidding. Roxas idolized him, always coming to him for advice and was under the impression that the redhead knew everything. They were best friends, close to brothers even, so there was no way that Roxas would ever replace him with anyone. Still, whenever he met with the boy, he would tell him about Nikki, saying how nice she was and always saying how the two of them should meet up. He was sure that Roxas told her about him as well.

He soon realized that he was thinking about this for way too long, and shook those thoughts out of his head before moving on down the hall.

* * *

To be continued...


	4. First Impressions

**Banshee: Don't worry, I'm still alive! And I got a new chapter for you! Don't worry, I'll get into the comedy more later on, just a chapter or two more of seriousness before we start getting goofy. In the meantime, enjoy the chapter~!**

* * *

Chapter Three: First Impressions

* * *

Recap:

 _"Eavesdropping as a nasty habit, you know." Axel said, his voice and expression serious as Xigbar appeared from behind a corner._

 _"There are worse habits than eavesdropping, Flamesilocks." The sharpshooter pointed out._

 _"What do you want?"_

 _"I couldn't help but notice that Roxas has been spending a lot of time with our prisoner lately. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were being replaced." Xigbar said nonchalantly, as if he were talking about the weather._

 _"Roxas would never replace me." Axel said adamantly._

 _"You sure about that?" Said Xigbar with a sly smile. "He really seems to like her; maybe even more than you."_

 _Axel said nothing, but the fellow Nobody's words struck a chord. He clenched his fists and glared at Xigbar, who seemed unaffected by his fiery glare and uncharacteristic scowl. But he_ did _feel the air around him get hotter as a result of the redhead's anger._

 _"Whoa, hey now." He surrendered, jumping back and putting his hands up. "No need to get mad. I'm just kidding."_

 _"Don't you have anything better to do?" Axel said._

 _"Not particularly, no." Xigbar chuckled. "But I_ do _need to have a word with our Superior. I'll catch ya later, Flamesilocks!"_

 _With that, Xigbar left, leaving Axel standing alone in the hallway._

 _Of course he knew that the jerk was kidding. Roxas idolized him, always coming to him for advice and was under the impression that the redhead knew everything. They were best friends, close to brothers even, so there was no way that Roxas would ever replace him with anyone. Still, whenever he met with the boy, he would tell him about Nikki, saying how nice she was and always saying how the two of them should meet up. He was sure that Roxas told her about him as well._

 _He soon realized that he was thinking about this for way too long, and shook those thoughts out of his head before moving on down the hall._

* * *

A few weeks ago, if you told Nikki that she was about to come face-to-face with the leader of Organization XIII, she would laugh and tell you that you're crazy. But yet here she was, staring into the cold, emotionless eyes of none other than Xemnas, leader of the Organization, with Saïx, his second-in-command, at his side. Both men were taller and more built than her, and if she was going to be honest with herself she would say that she was pretty indimitated. However, that didn't stop her from glaring at them defiantly, especially since Saïx was eyeing her with distaste that he wasn't even bothering to hide, and Xemnas had that mocking look of amusement on his face.

"So," Said Xemnas after a drawn-out silence. "You're the little rat that has stolen its way into our castle."

"Believe me, pal, if I knew what was going to happen, I never would have gone through that portal and ended up here in the first place." Nikki snapped defiantly.

In retrospect, talking back to a villain was a very bad idea and would likely get her killed, but she just couldn't help herself but to do so; she just didn't like being referred to as a rat, or being looked at or talked to as if she was dirt. While Saïx glared at her insolence, Xemnas seemed amused by it, for he agreed, "Indeed. But you just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

Nikki's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.

"Curiosity is a dangerous thing, isn't it? One of the many drawbacks of having a heart. I pity you, really."

"Oh really?" Nikki inquired, an edge in her voice; once again, she couldn't stop herself from talking back. "You're the one without a heart, but _you_ pity _me_? At least _my_ emotions are _real_ ; _I_ don't have to fake it!"

Saïx continued to glower at her, the look in his eyes suggesting that he would like nothing more than to summon his claymore and cut her down where she stood. Xemnas, however, smiled, though Nikki knew that there was no true amusement behind it. Even so, it still sent an unpleasant shiver down her spine.

"It's true," He said. "None of us feel true emotion now that our hearts are gone. But what of poor Roxas; the only one among us with little to no memory of his former self, with no past experiences to call back on to fabricate an emotion? Are his emotions not real?"

"Don't drag Roxas into this!" Nikki shouted, running up and grasping the cell bars, leaning as far as she could outside the cell so she could look Xemnas in the eye. "He's more real than any of you could ever be!"

At her anger, Xemnas merely chuckled.

"You see?" He said in mock sympathy. "This is why I pity you. Your heart rules your actions, fuels your words, and blinds you to the truth. It's sad, and rather pathetic, really."

Nikki had such a tight grip on the bars at this point that her knuckles had turned white. She knew what he was doing. Roxas had told her how manipulative he was, and he probably came to her cell just to see how far he could go before she got angry, likely trying to gauge how powerful a Heartless she would create with that anger. Well she wasn't going to give that to him. Releasing the bars, she did the best to calm herself as she stepped back and took a deep breath.

"Is there a point to you coming here, or are you just going to stand there and antagonize me?"

"Watch how you speak to your superiors, girl," Saïx said in a dangerous tone, "or I'll silence you myself."

"Now, now, Saïx. That's no way to treat a guest." Xemnas mock-scolded him. "Especially since that guest is one of Sora's friends."

"I don't see the point in keeping her." Saïx said, eyeing Nikki with that same distaste as she glared right back. "She's not as close to him as Riku or Kairi."

"She's close enough." The Superior said dismissively, waving his hand. "We shall keep her here at the castle. Sora can't resist playing the hero, no matter who is in danger. And Roxas has taken a liking to her as well. She will make a nice little distraction for him between his missions."

"Hey!" Nikki yelled, not liking how they were talking as if she was invisible. "I'm still here!"

"Yes, we know." Saïx said with a hint of testiness. "You can't seem to shut your mouth."

"Watch it, Scarface! You think you're so tough, but Sora and Riku kicked your asses six ways to Sunday! They did it before, and they can do it again! You freaks don't scare me!"

It happened so fast; she was suddenly knocked backward as Saïx swung his claymore, hitting the bars with a deafening BANG, and she landed on the floor. A dangerous aura surrounded the berserker as he stood outside her cell, his claymore clenched tightly in his fist, and he appeared on the brink of losing himself and smashing everything he could reach. Those same eyes that once held annoyance and indifference now were wild and near-insane, and honestly, it was scary. He looked like a starved, rabid wolf, and he was even growling, baring his teeth, which she had just noticed were sharper than normal.

"Do I scare you _now_ , brat?" He snarled at her. Nikki simply stared at him from the floor, her eyes wide as dinner plates, and she was trembling enough for both of them to notice. The two Dusks still standing guard at the door were shaking as they watched. Feeling he got his point across, Saïx regained his composure and his claymore vanished. "Remember your place, girl. I won't be so kind next time."

"I will take some time to think about what to do with you." Xemnas said, as if the last thirty seconds didn't happen. "You will remain in this cell in the meantime. Be a good girl and behave yourself, won't you? Come, Saïx."

Saïx glared at Nikki murderously, but followed Xemnas obediently when he summoned a portal, and they both vanished.

Nikki didn't talk for minutes after they departed, still trying to catch her breath, which suddenly got caught in her throat, and hadn't moved from her spot on the floor. She wasn't going to deny it; what Saïx did legitimately scared her, and Xemnas' behavior was unnerving as well. If she ever got out of this cell, she would make sure to get as far away from those two as possible. Keeping her mouth shut would help too.

"Shit..." She breathed, finally finding her voice; and her breath. "Riku was right... These people _are_ crazy..."

This uneasy feeling continued for hours until Roxas appeared, carrying two plates of spaghetti in his hands with a big smile on his face to show he was happy to see her and couldn't wait to tell her about his missions and the worlds he visited; which he knew she always loved to hear about, completely oblivious to what happed before he got there. At first she thought about not telling him about Saïx and Xemnas, but that didn't seem fair. Before Roxas could open his mouth to tell her about his day, Nikki blurted out, "I met the Superior."

"You did?" Roxas asked, concerned.

"And Saïx."

"And what happened?" Asked Roxas.

She explained everything that happened; from Xemnas talking about keeping her in the castle, to Saïx scaring the ever-loving crap out of her, and the boy's expression turned stony.

"Nobody in this Organization is going to hurt you, Nikki." He said determinedly. "I'm Sora's Nobody; if he can beat them, then I can too."

"You don't have to fight anybody." Nikki said sternly. "I'm not worried about them. I just have to be more careful dealing with them, that's all. Now go ahead and tell me about your missions. What kind of world did you visit this time?"

Roxas' expression softened and his smile returned, and soon he was telling Nikki about a world where fairies were real and how he flew through the air without wings; Neverland, he called it, and Nikki listened intently, knowing that moments like these made her glad she followed him through that portal and ended up in the castle.

* * *

Nikki had been in that cell for so many days that the marker had run out of ink; well, it didn't help that she was drawing on the walls as well as keeping track of days, and she was left to just lay there on the sleeping bag Roxas had gotten for her. She would occasionally play the board games that Demyx left with her, and though he and Roxas would play them with her from time to time, they got a little boring with just the Dusks to play with when they weren't around. Since Demyx wasn't allowed in the castle library, Roxas was the one to bring her some books to read, and with nothing else to do, she would sit and read them cover to cover for hours, even the ones that were so thick that it took days to read them.

At first she was worried about what fate Xemnas had in store for her, but after a while she just didn't care anymore; as long as she could get out of that stupid cell, it didn't matter what he decided to do with her.

Her answer finally came when Roxas entered her cell, looking excited.

"I got great news! The Superior is letting you out!"

Nikki stared at him, shaking her head and smiling once the words registered in her brain, and she asked hopefully, "Really? Does this mean I can go home?"

Roxas' smile faltered. "U-Uh, actually... no."

"Then how is it 'great news?'" Nikki grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Well, you're out of this cell at least." The young Nobody said, trying to sound reassuring. "Come on. I'll take you to your room."

Nikki's eyebrows raised, and she looked at Roxas like she couldn't believe what she heard. "My room? You mean I have to stay in this God-forsaken castle for the rest of my life?"

Roxas scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Pretty much."

"Super.."

"It's not all bad." The blonde said reassuringly. "Your room is right next to mine, so if there's anything you need you can just ask me, okay?"

"Sure." Nikki paused for a moment, and then asked, with a hint of dread, "So, I can't leave the castle at all?"

"You _can_ leave the castle, but one of us has to be with you; you know, to make sure you don't-"

"Run away. Got it."

Nikki began picking things up off the floor; the sleeping bag, the books and board games, and walked with Roxas through the portal he created, waving goodbye to the two Dusks standing guard, who both waved back, before stepping inside the blackness. They emerged shortly, arriving in a corridor lined with doors, all with numbers inscribed on them, and Nikki knew without even asking that this must be where the Organization members' bedrooms were.

"Here's my room. See?" Roxas said, getting her attention as he pointed to the door in front of them. The door had a big number thirteen on it. "And here's your room."

He then pointed to a blank door right next to his, and Nikki couldn't help but make a face at it. Since her hands were full he opened the door for her, revealing a room that was just as blank and boring as the rest of the castle. Other than the dresser, bed and nightstand, the room was devoid of furniture, and there was nothing decorating the walls. There was a reasonably-sized closet on the other side of the room, but it was just as empty, and there was only one window, which provided a good view of the heart-shaped moon floating above the castle.

"The bathroom is down the hall and to the left." Roxas said, breaking the silence. "Don't worry, there's a sign there. Saïx got sick of people asking him where the bathroom was, so he had some Dusks put one up. If you're hungry, the kitchen is the other way; just take a right instead of a left and it's right there.

"Here, while you're getting settled, I'll take these back to the library for you." He continued, gesturing to the books in Nikki's arms.

"Thanks." Nikki said, handing the books to him.

"No problem." He beamed at her. "I'll be right back, okay?"

The brunette nodded, and Roxas smiled before he disappeared into a portal. There wasn't much to settle because all Nikki had with her was a sleeping bag and a handful of board games; neither of which belonged to her. All she could do was set the items down and sit on the bed, which was pushed up against the wall right underneath the window. The only clothes she had were the ones on her back, and she wondered how she was going to live in this castle with only one set of clothes. Surely Roxas or Demyx would go with her to get some clothes...

After a momentary silence, Roxas returned with a pile of fresh books that were stacked up over his head, and he had to peek around it to see her, something Nikki found both funny and adorable.

"I'm back." He said jovially, putting the books down on the dresser. "I got some more books for you. Now that you're finally out of that cell, what do you want to do?"

"This castle is boring as hell." Nikki said rather bluntly. "What's there to do around here?"

"Well…" Roxas said thoughtfully. "I could introduce you to Axel."

He looked happy at first, but his expression changed to downhearted as soon as he remembered, "Oh, that's right... Saïx gave him a lot of missions today, so he won't be back in time to hang out..."

"That's okay, Roxas." Nikki said kindly. "I can meet him tomorrow."

"Okay." Said Roxas, who was feeling a little better.

Suddenly the door burst open and an excited-looking Demyx entered the room, a big, goofy smile plastered on his face.

"Hey!" He greeted.

"Hey Demyx." Nikki and Roxas said nearly the same time.

"So the Superior really _did_ give you your own room. It's better than that cell though, right?"

"Yeah, I guess..." The brunette admitted half-heartedly. It's true, the room Xemnas gave her was better than her cell in the Soundless Prison, but she would rather be back in her own house, sleeping in her own bed. She pulled on her shirt. "I wish I had some clothes, though... I really don't want to spend my time in this castle walking around wearing the same outfit all the time..." She took one look at their Organization XIII uniforms and uttered a quick, "No offense."

"Well, I _was_ told to bring you these..." Demyx said sheepishly, holding up a folded stack of clothes; which, upon closer inspection, were several identical uniforms. Organization XIII uniforms.

Nikki eyed the clothes with apprehension, making a face. "Seriously? He expects me to wear these for the rest of my life? I don't think so."

"These coats aren't so bad." Demyx tried to reason with her. "They change to fit your body, and they protect you from corruption when you pass through a Corridor of Darkness."

"A what?"

"A Corridor of Darkness." Roxas explained. "They're the portals that we create to get around. These coats enable us to pass through them safely."

"Oh... Okay..." Nikki said hesitantly, reaching for one of the coats. "Then I guess it wouldn't hurt to keep one."

"That's the spirit!" Demyx chimed in.

Nikki put on the coat, and found right away that Demyx was right; the coat, which looked standard at first, instantly tailored itself to fit her the second she put it on. The hem of the coat went down to her ankles, the shoulders were angular, and the sleeves, while slightly form-fitting, were slightly bell-shaped and partially covered her hands. As she inspected her new coat, she couldn't find any trace of the clothes she was wearing before; Instead of her t-shirt, there was a black, v-neck tanktop; Black pants replaced her slightly worn blue jeans; And a pair of black boots with heels were on her feet instead of her blue and white shoes. A pair of black gloves found their way onto her hands, though she didn't remember putting them on.

"What the bloody hell happened to my clothes?!" She exclaimed.

"That's just how the coats work." Roxas explained. "They change shape to fit the wearer, and they transform whatever you're wearing under it into the uniform."

"So, if I just take it off, then I'll have my normal clothes on again?"

Roxas and Demyx nodded.

"Okay, then... But I don't have any pajamas either, and I don't think I can sleep in this." She emphasized by pulling on the coat's collar.

"That's okay, you can borrow mine." Demyx offered, pulling a set of pajamas out of nowhere. They were blue and white, and covered in little pink hearts. "I picked these out for you."

"Thank you, Demyx." Nikki said gratefully, taking the pajamas while Demyx beamed. "That's really sweet."

"We'll get you some more clothes tomorrow, after you meet Axel." Roxas said. "We can all go shopping together."

"That sounds great. Thank you." Nikki smiled appreciatively.

"No problem." Roxas said, smiling back. "We'll see you tomorrow."

The brunette nodded, and both Roxas and Demyx smiled before leaving the room.

She took the coat off, her clothing returning to normal, and she promptly undressed, setting both her normal clothes and the black coat on top of the dresser. Nikki unfolded the pajamas Demyx gave her, and realized right away that they were going to be a bit big for her; which was no surprise, considering that the water-wielder was both taller and more built than she was. She put them on and, sure enough, she found that she was right. As she buttoned up the night shirt, the collar went halfway down her chest, and the sleeves covered her hands. Thankfully, when she put on the pants, the waistband was tight enough to keep them from falling off her hips, but the bottoms covered her feet. Walking around in these would be hazardous. It reminded her somewhat of wearing her older sister's clothes.

Nikki shrugged. They may have been too big, but they were good enough. Getting into bed, she pulled the covers over herself, and the giant, heart-shaped moon was the last thing she saw before she fell asleep.

* * *

When Nikki woke up the next morning, she found a note from Roxas saying that he was on a mission and he would be gone until around noon or so. According to his note, he had been sent to Halloween Town to destroy a specific Heartless, and, due to its nature, it was a difficult one to track, so this mission would take a while. Luckily she had plenty of books to pass the time, but she could only sit and read for so long, and board games were no fun to play alone. Demyx couldn't play because he had missions of his own, and she hadn't met any of the other members.

Walking around the castle was out of the question. She would get lost, and if she ran into another member, they would be more likely to laugh at her than help her. She didn't want to run into any of them anyway; most of them were either crazy or dangerous, and she _really_ didn't want to risk running into Saïx, so her only option was to stay put in her room.

After a few hours, Nikki let out a long, heavy sigh.

"I'm bored." She said to nobody. "I'm _sooooooo_ bored..."

"Then we should go do something."

The sudden voice startled Nikki, and she let out a very loud squeak as she almost jumped off the bed. Quickly sitting up, she turned and saw a familiar young Nobody fighting back a smile and snickering.

"Wh-What the-?" She stammered. "Roxas! You scared me!"

"Sorry Nikki," Said Roxas, though he didn't seem at all sorry; he was still fighting back giggles. "I couldn't help it."

"You're a little early." Nikki said after taking note of the time. It was 11:30. "I thought you weren't going to be back until noon."

"I thought so too." Roxas said. "But tracking down that Heartless was easy once I discovered its weakness. Turns out, it really loved candy. I just left a huge pile for it, and I destroyed it while it was pigging out. That mission was surprisingly easy, but Saïx made it sound so difficult..."

"That's because Saïx isn't as creative as you are." Nikki said, and Roxas blushed a little.

"So, um... We should probably get going. Axel's waiting for us in Twilight Town."

Having already gotten dressed earlier, all Nikki had to do was throw on the black coat, and she and Roxas stepped through the Corridor of Darkness.

* * *

When they emerged from the Corridor, Nikki saw a drastic difference between Twilight Town and The World That Never Was. While the latter was stuck in perpetual night, Twilight Town seemed eternally bathed in the warm glow of sunset, which gave everything an orange hue. And unlike the big, empty and dark city, the streets in this town were full of people; the shops had big, bright signs, adults chatted away, and children were playing and laughing. It was an altogether warmer and more welcoming atmosphere than The World That Never Was would ever be.

"Phew.." Nikki shuddered as the portal closed behind them. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that..."

Roxas chuckled. He could have told her that using portals is weird at first, and that she'd get used to it after a while, but he decided against it. Unlike him, Nikki was still human. "We're gonna meet Axel at the Clock Tower. We always hang out there after missions."

"Oh, is that so?"

He nodded. "Mhm. I can't wait 'til you meet him. I have a feeling you guys are gonna get along great."

Nikki smiled at his optimism. Of course she had her reservations; this 'Axel' was also part of Organization XIII (the people basically holding her captive), but he was also Roxas' best friend, so he couldn't that bad, right?

"Oh!" Roxas called out suddenly. "There he is! Hey! Axel!"

He began waving excitedly at a tall figure standing in the middle of the plaza, who raised his arm and lazily waved back, smiling before making his way towards them. What Nikki noticed first was the same black coat she and Roxas were wearing, and then her eyes moved to his mane of flaming red hair. Both things made him the most conspicuous person around at the moment. As he got closer, she could see a cocky smile on his lips as well as his bright green eyes that glanced at her every so often.

"There you are, Rox. What kept you?" Axel said, patting the teen on the shoulder.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to go and pick up Nikki first."

Axel's eyes went to Nikki and she instinctually stiffened. "Ah, our 'special guest.' Sorry about throwing you in prison, but we don't take kindly to trespassers."

Nikki's eyebrow twitched into an arch. "I noticed." She said dryly.

The redhead held out his hand to shake; a friendly gesture, yet he noticed that Nikki was looking at it as if it was going to bite her. He decided not to address it. "The name's Axel." He said with that same cocky smile. "Got it memorized?"

At those words, Nikki raised an eyebrow again, but bit back a remark as she took his hand. "Wotcher. My name's Nikki. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Now it was Axel's turn to raise an eyebrow. The brunette's voice had an unmistakable edge to it, but with Roxas standing between them, his face lit up with excitement at the idea of his two friends meeting and getting along, he decided to act like he hadn't noticed. For now.

"Hey Axel." Roxas piped up. "Why don't you go ahead and take Nikki to the Clock Tower. You guys can get to know each other while I get the ice cream. Sound good?"

"Sure Rox, no problem." Axel agreed.

The young Nobody then turned to Nikki. "Nikki, is that okay with you?" He asked her.

Nikki, who was in the middle of glaring at Axel, simply uttered a quick, "Mm-hm."

"Okay. I'll meet you at the Clock Tower, then."

And with that, Roxas created a Corridor of Darkness and disappeared into it.

"Alone at last~." Axel mused once the portal disappeared. He turned to flash Nikki another smile, only to be met with that same glare, which seemed to have intensified now that the blonde had left. "Ahem. So... Let's get going, shall we?"

He created a portal and stepped aside to give her full access to it. "Ladies first~." He said, his torso bending into a graceful half-bow as he gestured towards the portal.

Nikki walked into the portal without a word, with Axel following behind her, and they exited at the top of the Clock Tower. Looking around, Nikki took in the view from the top of the tower, finding it beautiful beyond words. She could see the entire town, still bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun, which she had a clear, unobstructed view of. For a little while, she had forgotten about Axel until he coughed, and she turned to face him with a scowl.

"This your first time in Twilight Town, sweetheart?" He asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

"Aye."

"You wanna know why the sun sets red?"

"Cannae say that I care." She said.

"That's a cute little accent you got there." Axel said, referring to her slight accent. "Where are you from?"

"I was born on the islands, but my family's from Sacred Meadow." Nikki said simply.

"Ah."

A silence followed, and Axel took advantage of it to survey her out of the corner of his eye. He took note of how straight her posture was, and though she had her hands in the pockets of her black coat it was obvious that they were balled into fists, ready to strike at a second's notice. Her shoulders were stiff and her gaze was fixed forward toward the sun, though she continued glaring at him out of the corner of her eye whenever she got the chance. Earlier she had an edge in her voice whenever she addressed him, and was reluctant to shake his hand. Now she had that scowl on her face, and while his first thought upon seeing her was that she was pretty cute, that scowl was uncute... okay, maybe it was kind of cute...

They had only just met and already he had done something to piss her off, and he had no idea what he had done wrong; unless you count the fact that he's part of the organization that's currently keeping her prisoner, then that's a perfect reason for her to be so hostile and on her guard with him. Now that Roxas had gone, he felt that hostile aura around her intensify.

 _"What's up with her?"_ He wondered. _"While she was locked up, Roxas would go on and on about how nice she is. Now that she's here, she's about as friendly as a wet cat. Something's definitely off."_

"Something wrong? You've been awful quiet."

At his question, Nikki shook her head. "Nope." She said a little too quickly. "Nothing's wrong. Everything's just _smashing_."

"You sure?" He pressed. "You look a little pissed off."

"I'm not pissed off. This is my normal face." Nikki said defensively.

"Sure it is." The redhead said, keeping his tone casual. Though he didn't believe her at all, he didn't want to push her. In his eyes, women were such complicated creatures; especially human women, and he didn't want to press the wrong button and set her off so soon after meeting her.

...

...

...

Then again, pushing her buttons could be fun.

"Careful now, if you keep standing still like that, you'll attract birds. They love statues."

At his comment, Nikki automatically looked up, scanning the top of the tower and the sky for any sign of birds. Luckily though, there were none at the moment, and she sent him a glare. He chuckled at the look on her face.

"You know if you keep making faces like that, it will stick that way." He said, his lips curled upward in an amused grin.

"That's not true." Nikki retorted, frowning. She crossed her arms and added, "Faces don't 'stick.'"

"Maybe they don't..." Axel said casually. "But it can cause premature wrinkles. Imagine, frown lines at your age..."

Nikki, before she could stop herself, put her hands up to her face, feeling for any premature lines. Axel had to bite his cheek to keep himself from laughing at how quickly and instinctively she responded to that.

"That'd be a shame. You have such a cute face, too."

"Now listen, you-"

Before she could finish her sentence, more than likely it was a threat, a portal appeared and Roxas stepped out of it carrying three ice creams.

"I'm back." He said. "Who wants ice cream?"

Any violent words or actions left Nikki's mind as she decided that starting a fight with Axel in front of Roxas would not only disappoint the younger Nobody, but he might also not want to be friends with her anymore after picking a fight with someone who he regarded not only as his best friend, but also as a big brother. Not wanting to risk her friendship with Roxas, Nikki calmed herself and took the ice cream that he offered her. As the three of them sat down, she made sure to sit on the blonde's other side, _away_ from Axel, who still had that cocky smirk on his face.

Once their ice cream was finished, they simply sat there watching the sun, which still hadn't fallen below the horizon. After another hour or so, Axel and Roxas decided that their time on the Clock Tower was over and the blonde suggested that they go shopping at the market to buy Nikki some new clothes.

* * *

They returned to the castle a couple hours later, and Nikki was satisfied now that she had more than one set of clothes. Shopping with boys was kind of awkward, especially since one of them, a certain redhead, kept offering cheeky remarks that would have earned him a kick in the teeth if it weren't for Roxas, but at least she got some nice new clothes out of it... even if it was only a couple week's worth.

She slipped on a new pair of pajamas and crawled into bed, but she couldn't sleep. Now that she was alone, she had some time to think, and those thoughts were keeping her awake.

What was going on back on the islands? Surely her family and friends had noticed her absence by now. They must be worried sick about her. No doubt they were looking for her, more than likely tearing the island apart in the process. And yet here she was, in a castle floating above the ground in a world far beyond their reach. The only people who would know about this world, and more importantly reach it, were Sora, Riku and Kairi. Speaking of the trio, had they made the connection between her disappearance and Organization XIII?

She missed her family, her friends, her home... everything. But as long as Organization XIII existed, she wasn't going to be leaving the castle anytime soon. Sure, she made friends with Roxas, and even Demyx, but she didn't belong with them. She belonged in her own home, in her own bed.

Eventually her brain wore itself out, and Nikki couldn't stay awake anymore. She went to sleep... but not before crying her eyes out first.

* * *

"Did you find anything yet?"

That was the first thing Raymond Hale heard when he stepped through his front door. It was what he heard every day for weeks. And the person who repeatedly asked him this question was standing right in front of him, with an anxious look on her face and eyes red from crying, said eyes pleading, begging him for some good news. He sighed heavily and looked down, away from his wife, as he shook his head slowly, and she began crying again. He followed her as she walked into the living room and sat back down on the couch, where she buried her face in her hands as she sobbed. Raymond put his hand on his wife's shoulder, but it did nothing to console her.

"I'm sorry Catherine, but there is no sign of her anywhere. We've searched everywhere, even Destiny Island, and there is no trace of her. She's just... gone."

At this point, Nikki had been missing for several weeks, and though Raymond was leading possibly the biggest manhunt in the island's history to look for her, the only clue was that the last time anyone saw her, she was going to Destiny Island. When the police searched the island, all they found was the boat Nikki used. After that, the trail went cold.

"She can't be gone... She can't..."

Butch, who was laying on the floor, jumped up on the couch and laid down beside Catherine, his head resting on her lap as he looked up at his owners with worried, sad eyes. He saw the picture of Nikki sitting on the table and whined.

"Do you think she was kidnapped?" Catherine asked between sobs.

The Hales liked to believe that they knew their daughter very well; at least well enough to know what she would and wouldn't do, and that she would never go too long without contacting them. Where she was going, who she was going with, what time she was coming back, if she was going to be late... these were the only things they wanted to know, and they trusted Nikki enough to not get herself into trouble-especially with the wrong people. One thing she would never do, not even as a joke, was disappear and not tell anyone where she was. At first, they thought she was just late; that maybe she decided to visit one of her friends before coming home and forgot to call. However, after calling all her friends, they discovered that none of them had seen her. Sandy, her best friend, had told them that the last time she saw Nikki, she was heading off to Destiny Island, but she hadn't seen her since then. Kidnapping was a very real possibility.

"It's possible.." Raymond said quietly.

Catherine resumed her crying, taking some time inbetween to question who would kidnap their daughter and why, with Butch attempting to comfort her. Meanwhile her husband simply stood beside her with a hand on her shoulder, too tired to express any worry or sorrow.

"I'm not going to give up, Catherine. We'll keep looking until we find her." He said, determinted despite how tired he was. "It'll be all right."

After a few minutes of consoling, the couple went off to bed, with Butch following behind them to sleep at the foot of their bed; as he had done every night since Nikki disappeared, but it was pointless. All Catherine did was continue to cry while Raymond tossed and turned, and the night ended up being the same as any other; restless and full of worry at the thought of what could be happening to their daughter at that moment. When they finally did fall asleep, their worst fears filled their dreams.

* * *

Meanwhile, at a quiet little house by the beach, three friends were huddled in a circle on the floor, engaged in a deep discussion.

"Do you think it was them?" A feminine voice asked.

"Of course it was. Those guys aren't above kidnapping." Said the boy to her right. "You of all people should know that, Kairi."

"She must have gone after Roxas and got herself kidnapped." Said the tallest boy. "I told her to stay away from him, but she was too stubborn to listen, and now she's involved in this whole mess."

"It's not Nikki's fault, Riku." Kairi said testily. "This is Organization XIII we're talking about. Like Sora said, they aren't above kidnapping. They're probably holding her hostage to get to Sora, just like they did with me."

"I don't think Roxas had anything to do with it, though." Sora chimed in. "He's my Nobody. We're connected to each other. Heck, I bet they're friends by now. He wouldn't hurt her."

"It's not him I'm worried about." Riku said. "It's the rest of them."

"That blonde guy wasn't so bad," Kairi said, as she thought of Demyx, the Organization member that was guarding her while she was held captive. "He was nice to me, and he even tried cheering me up."

Riku just shook his head. He had enough experience with Organization XIII to know that they were a bunch of manipulative bastards. At one point they were attempting to use both him and Sora for their own ends, and he specifically remembered their master of illusions playing on his guilt to turn him against Sora; though, thanks to Naminé, that ploy was unsuccessful.

"I dunno... I can't help but think this is our fault too.." Sora said guiltily, scratching the back of his neck. "We kept a lot of secrets from her." There was a brief pause as Riku and Kairi stared at him. He continued, "I mean, we were missing for a year; maybe two, and she must have been worried about us. But we never told her the full story of what happened. I can't help but think that maybe she wouldn't have gone looking for Roxas if we just told her everything..."

Silence followed his words, allowing them to sink in. According to Nikki, she had been seeing Roxas on the island for days; though she didn't know who he was. They couldn't help but wonder; if they _had_ told Nikki everything, would she still have wanted to find Roxas and talk to him? Or would she do it anyway just to hear what the Nobody had to say? Knowing Nikki, she probably would have. If she had known ahead of time that Roxas was Sora's Nobody, she would have deemed him trustworthy and saw no harm in trying to get to know him.

However, that didn't stop them feeling guilty. Sure, while the rest of her friends didn't take what she said seriously, they made it even worse by dismissing it and acting like overprotective parents.

"I don't think that matters anymore. What's done is done." Riku said with finality. "Nikki is missing, and we know for a fact that Organization XIII has her locked up in their castle. What we need to do is figure out how we're going to rescue her."

"We could just rush in and kick their butts. You guys did the same thing when they kidnapped me." Kairi suggested.

"Yeah!" Sora agreed eagerly, his Keyblade appearing in his hand. "I say we go in guns blazing and hope for the best. Always works for me."

"That won't work a second time." Riku shot his plan down, making the brunette sulk a little. "For one, we don't have Ansem or King Mickey helping us this time, and for two, they'd be expecting us. We need to have a plan."

"So what's the plan, then?" Sora asked eagerly.

...

...

...

"I don't know yet."

Sora fell over. " _You don't know_?"

"There's no real rush. Organization XIII may have held Kairi hostage, but they didn't hurt her; they just wanted to use her against you so you'd do what they wanted." Riku said reasonably, and Sora couldn't help but agree. "They're probably doing the same to Nikki; just keeping her locked up, and they won't do anything to her as long as they think she can use her... unless she mouths off too much.."

"In that case, she'll be dead soon.." Kairi said solemnly. "She can't help herself when it comes to talking back..."

"Come on guys, you know Nikki better than that." Sora reprimanded them. "She's smart enough to know she can't push her luck with them. She'll be fine."

Sora's words appeared to be encouraging, for Riku and Kairi smiled at him and nodded in agreement. Immediately they began brainstorming ideas on how to rescue Nikki from Organization XIII, confident that they could succeed since they had done it once before. Sora's connection with Roxas would likely enable Nikki to befriend Roxas, and as long as she was with him, she would be fine.

If only they knew what kind of trouble she was about to get into...

* * *

To be continued...


	5. Surviving Annoying Redheads

**Banshee: I'm back, and I have a new chapter for you! Sorry it took so long, I've just been tired lately and I've had things pop up in life that needed to be addressed first. That, and I had a horrible case of writer's block, and we all know how much that sucks... Well, without further ado, onward to the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and the plot.**

* * *

Chapter Four: Surviving Annoying Redheads

* * *

Recap:

 _"I got great news! The Superior is letting you out!"_

 _Nikki stared at him, shaking her head and smiling once the words registered in her brain, and she asked hopefully, "Really? Does this mean I can go home?"_

 _Roxas' smile faltered. "U-Uh, actually... no."_

 _"Then how is it 'great news?'" Nikki grumbled, crossing her arms._

 _"Well, you're out of this cell at least." The young Nobody said, trying to sound reassuring. "Come on. I'll take you to your room."_

 _Nikki's eyebrows raised, and she looked at Roxas like she couldn't believe what she heard. "My room? You mean I have to stay in this God-forsaken castle for the rest of my life?"_

 _Roxas scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Pretty much."_

 _"Super.."_

 _"It's not all bad." The blonde said reassuringly. "Your room is right next to mine, so if there's anything you need you can just ask me, okay?"_

 _"Sure." Nikki paused for a moment, and then asked, with a hint of dread, "So, I can't leave the castle at all?"_

 _"You_ can _leave the castle, but one of us has to be with you; you know, to make sure you don't-"_

 _"Run away. Got it."_

 _..._

 _"There you are, Rox. What kept you?" Axel said, patting the teen on the shoulder._

 _"Sorry I'm late. I had to go and pick up Nikki first."_

 _Axel's eyes went to Nikki and she instinctually stiffened. "Ah, our 'special guest.' Sorry about throwing you in prison, but we don't take kindly to trespassers."_

 _Nikki's eyebrow twitched into an arch. "I noticed." She said dryly._

 _The redhead held out his hand to shake; a friendly gesture, yet he noticed that Nikki was looking at it as if it was going to bite her. He decided not to address it. "The name's Axel." He said with that same cocky smile. "Got it memorized?"_

 _At those words, Nikki raised an eyebrow again, but bit back a remark as she took his hand. "Wotcher. My name's Nikki. It's a pleasure to meet you."_

 _Now it was Axel's turn to raise an eyebrow. The brunette's voice had an unmistakable edge to it, but with Roxas standing between them, his face lit up with excitement at the idea of his two friends meeting and getting along, he decided to act like he hadn't noticed. For now._

* * *

If it weren't for her wristwatch, Nikki never would have known that it was morning when she woke up. The sky was still an inky black and littered with stars, and the heart-shaped moon was still in the same place as it was when she fell asleep. The time on her watch said 9:30 AM, but she didn't feel like getting up. Instead, she simply laid there in bed staring out the window, watching the giant moon.

 _"How long have I been here?"_ She thought.

If she were to guess, she'd say that she had been in the castle for about a month, though it felt much longer. The castle didn't have clocks, and the sky, aside from the occasional storm, stayed the same no matter what time it was. Ordinarily she would have checked the calendar on her phone, to know what day it was, but it was gone; taken when the Organization captured her. She swore that if she ever found out who took her phone, she would punch them in the gut as hard as she could, no matter who it was... unless it was Roxas, though she doubted he was the culprit. She couldn't harm that sweet little face of his no matter what he did.

Nikki ignored the stacks of books and board games on the dresser, opting to stay in bed, changing her position every time her joints ached. At first she kept checking her watch to see what time it was, but gave up after about thirty minutes. The simple act of raising her arm was too much of a hassle at this point.

"Hey Nikki, are you okay?"

The brunette, startled, jumped at the sound of the voice, and struggled to free herself from the tangled mess that her blankets had become. Once free, she sat up and came face-to-face with Roxas, who was staring at her with obvious concern.

"Roxas! Oh, um.. I-I'm fine." Nikki stuttered awkwardly. She recovered after a few seconds and continued, drawling, "This room is just so bland and depressing that I didn't feel like getting up..."

"Oh. Okay." Roxas said. "I just wanted to let you know that Saïx gave me a bunch of missions today, so we can't hang out until later.."

" _More_ missions? Jeez, don't you guys ever get a day off?"

"Only when both Xemnas _and_ Saïx are sick, and _that_ only happens when nobody cleans out the refrigerator and they end up eating month-old takeout."

Nikki grimaced.

"So you've got some missions, huh? When will you be back?" She asked.

"I don't know." Roxas said. "But you won't be alone. I asked Axel to keep you company while I'm gone."

At the mention of the redhead, Nikki's inner self shattered.

 _"_ _ **WHAT**_ _?!"_ She screamed internally. _"He's leaving me alone with that cocky git? I'll be_ _ **damned**_ _if I'm going to put up with_ _ **him**_ _all day!"_

"Oh, really?" Nikki said, her cheery tone wavering a little. "That's..." She started, and felt a snide remark coming on, but bit it back in time and finished with an unconvincing "That's nice."

"I would have asked Demyx, but he's on recon duty."

 _"Demyx would have been better!"_

"Anyway, I should get going. Saïx'll get mad if I don't start my missions soon. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Ye _ah_!" Nikki said, trying to be cheery, but her voice cracked and she ended up squeaking out the word instead. "Yeah, I'll see you later."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "You sure you're okay?" He inquired suspiciously.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She lied. "I just need some water."

The young Nobody gave her a strange look, as if he didn't believe her, but he didn't say anything, instead telling her that he would see her later before he left. Nikki would have sighed in relief, but the thought of spending the day alone with Axel made her nerves even more frazzled than they already were. The last time she was left alone with him, he had her checking her own face for frown lines due to his remarks. The smartass.

In the time she sat there waiting for Axel to arrive, Nikki formulated a plan to escape. She figured that if she could find the same bridge she used to enter the castle, it was possible that she could also use it to leave. The only problem was how she was going to leave The World That Never Was. Nikki couldn't create portals, and she doubted that there was one just sitting around waiting for her to use it. Not only that, but Heartless roamed the streets below, and she didn't want to risk running into them again. There was no way out. She was screwed as far as escaping was concerned. Eventually she gave up her escape plan and just got dressed, and even that seemed pointless because she just ended up throwing on the coat anyway.

"I'm hungry." She said to nobody in particular as she sat down on the bed. "Which way did Roxas say the kitchen was again...? Down the hall and to the right? Or was it to the left? No, that's the bathroom... I think."

Getting up, Nikki poked her head out into the hallway. To her dismay, the hall went both ways.

"Great..." She grumbled.

She began to weigh her options. Trying to figure it out on her own was a bad idea because she could end up lost, just like she did when she first set foot in the castle. Asking someone was a good idea, but who was she going to ask? The only two Nobodies she would ask were away on missions, and there was no way she was asking Axel. She was hungry and bored, and she was in no mood for his cheek. Every other member was either intimidating or insane from what she heard. There was one exception, though.

Zexion.

Zexion seemed like the perfect person to ask. He was polite, according to Roxas, and had the patience to explain things down to every last detail. Getting directions from him would be easy. She just hoped that he was in his room. If he was in the library, like he was for half the day, she was out of luck because she didn't know where it was.

Nikki's eyes scanned the row of bedroom doors until she saw the number six; Zexion's number, and jogged over to it. Swallowing hard, she lightly tapped on the door, hoping that he was inside.

At first, there was no response. Nikki knocked again. Still nothing. She knocked harder and her fist hit the door in rapid taps, getting more frustrated the longer she had to wait. Just when she was going to give the door one last bang, it opened and there stood Zexion, his steel-blue hair covering half his face, and Nikki detected a hint of irritation in his visible eye.

"Yes?" He inquired politely. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, hi." Nikki greeted timidly. "You're Zexion, right?"

"Yes. And you're Nikki, correct?"

"How did you know my name?" Nikki asked.

"Demyx and Roxas talk about you a lot." Zexion said simply. "Is there something you need?"

"I just need to know which way the kitchen is. Could you tell me?"

"Certainly. From your room, you go that way," He pointed to the left, which was Nikki's right, and continued, "and continue down the hall until you reach the end, and you'll see it splits off into two directions. If you go left, that's the bathroom. Go right, and you'll find the kitchen."

"Okay." Nikki said, nodding to show she understood.

"Is there anything else you need?" Zexion asked.

"No, I'm all set. Thanks for the directions." Nikki said gratefully, smiling at him.

"You're welcome." Zexion replied. "Take care."

"You too."

As the brunette began to walk away, she waved at Zexion, who waved back, and she turned around fully and began travelling down the hallway at a light jog. The schemer watched her leave, his arms folded and his expression one of deep concentration.

This human certainly was an interesting one. The amount of darkness in her heart was no more than that of the average person, so she would be no use to the Organization as a Heartless. Though, from what he had been told, she had a strong will, perhaps one strong enough for her to become a Nobody if she ever lost her heart. While the darkness in her was weak, there was an unmistakable light and warmth coming from her that touched everyone within reach; he even felt it when talking to her. She also seemed to have an effect on people she met, much like Sora, the Keyblade wielder, and she was the type of person who could make friends with almost anyone. And though she looked innocent and harmless, and had a sweet disposition, Demyx once stated that she could be quite scary when angered. This certainly made her an interesting case for study.

A small grin appeared on his lips.

"Very interesting..."

* * *

After what felt like an eternity of walking, Nikki finally made it to the kitchen. As soon as she entered, she made a beeline for the fridge to look for something to eat. So far, though, she couldn't find anything that she liked to eat. She ended up closing the fridge and checking around the kitchen, trying to find something to make for herself, eventually settling for some bread to make a sandwich.

"Hm..." She hummed, taking a jar of peanut butter from the cabinet. "Peanut butter and..."

She looked thoughtfully at the three other items she had gathered; grape jelly, marshmallow fluff and bananas, and silently debated with herself on what she should have. She wasn't picky, so any one of them would be fine.

After some intense thought-not really-she just shrugged her shoulders and said "Eh, I'll have all three."

So there she was, making three peanut butter sandwiches to eat; one with marshmallow fluff, one with sliced bananas and one with grape jelly, and then she sat down at the table to eat her very interesting lunch. She had just started the marshmallow fluff when...

"So this is where you've been. I was worried you got lost or something."

At that familiar, irritating voice, Nikki nearly choked on her sandwich, which she only took one bite out of, and whipped around to see Axel standing in the doorway. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, with that same irritating smile on his face. He waved a hand lazily.

"Yo." He said. "Having a nice lunch?"

Nikki said nothing, narrowing her eyes at him. This didn't seem to bother Axel, however, for he sauntered over to the table where she was sitting and planted himself in the chair right across from her, not caring that she was glaring at him the whole time. In fact, it seemed to amuse him, for he leaned forward on his elbows, watching her with that cocky smirk that he knew she hated. Slowly chewing the bite she had in her mouth, she and the redhead locked eyes, as if caught in a strange staring contest. Finally, she swallowed her food and growled out, through gritted teeth, " _What_?"

"Nothing," Axel said nonchalantly. "Roxas asked me to keep you company while he was gone, so here I am. Isn't that nice?"

"Yeah." Nikki said flatly. "Real nice."

"Those look good." Axel said, referring to the sandwiches. "Can I have one?"

"No." The brunette snapped. "Make your own."

Axel pouted. "Aw, that's mean."

"Deal with it."

"You have three sandwiches there. You mean to tell me that you're going to eat all three of them by yourself?"

"Yup."

Axel was silent for a moment, and Nikki could practically see the gears turning in his head. Watching him intently as she slowly chewed on her sandwich, she noticed the subtle way his gaze seemed to alternate between her and the remaining sandwiches on the plate. She eyed him suspiciously, having an idea what he was going to do. Slowly she grabbed her plate and inched it towards her possessively, giving him a look that clearly said "Try anything and I will kill you." He moved and she instinctively put a protecitve arm over her plate, but he was just shifting his position so he was leaning on his hand, still watching her with that calculating look in his eyes and that damned smirk.

" _ **What**_?" Nikki snapped, breaking the silence.

"Nothing," Axel said. "You just got a little something on your face there."

This had to be a trick. She just knew it. But she had to ask.

"Where?"

The redhead said nothing, just pointing at the side of his mouth. Still keeping her eye on him, Nikki reached up and felt the same spot on her own face, finding marshmallow fluff on her hand when she retracted it. She scowled at Axel, who was still smiling, then reached over for a napkin. As soon as her arm was away from the plate, Axel moved, with the speed of a striking cobra, and snatched one of the sandwiches. Nikki tried to grab it back, but she wasn't fast enough. He was out of her reach before she even moved.

"Hey!" Nikki shouted in protest. "That's mine!"

"Not anymore it isn't." Axel said triumphantly, sitting back in his seat. "That's what you get for not sharing."

"Give me back my sandwich or I'll be 'sharing' _my_ _fist_ with _your face_!" Nikki threatened, showing him her clenched fist.

The redhead shrugged. "No thanks." He blew off her threat. "I'd rather have the sandwich."

"I swear to God, if you take just one bite..."

"If I do, then what? What will you do?" Axel taunted.

They locked eyes and Nikki gave him the most murderous glare she could manage before she answered, "You'll find out."

While that glare might have intimidated anybody else, it didn't work on Axel. He had faced bigger and badder creatures than her, and she was an ordinary human while he was a Nobody with power over fire. To him, she was about as indimidating as a box full of kittens.

"I'll take my chances." He said.

Slowly he moved the sandwich toward his lips.

"I'm warning you..."

He opened his mouth...

"Don't you dare-!"

... and he took a bite.

"That's it!" She shouted angrily, slamming her hands on the table. "Your feeble half-existence ends here! You're dead, you hear me? _**Dead**_!"

Nikki lunged at Axel, hands outstretched to grab him by the throat, but missed him when he jumped out of the way and ended up face-planting on the table. Though she couldn't see his face from her position, she could hear him chuckling at her expense, and if her face wasn't already red from anger, she would have blushed in embarrassment. She recovered quickly, rolling off the table and onto the floor, landing on her feet. He was directly across the table from her, still chewing on the sandwich as if nothing had happened.

"Careful now. You don't want to hurt yourself."

Nikki growled. "Shut up!"

She swiped at him, but he dodged easily.

"Ooh, looks like the kitten's got claws."

Nikki hissed and swiped a second time, only to growl in frustration when she missed him again.

"Stand still, dammit!"

"Now why would I do that? It's more fun to watch you struggle." Axel replied cheekily.

She would have moved to hit him again, but it was obvious that this was just a game to him, and she was _not_ going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her make an ass out of herself in front of him... again. Snatching what was left of her food, she stormed out of the kitchen, and all she said to Axel on her way out was an irritated "I'm out of here."

As he watched Nikki leave, the redhead took a moment to think. This was the second time that she had shown hostility towards him, and if he were honest with himself he would say that it was both funny and cute; funny because no matter how threatening she tried to be, she failed miserably at it, and it was cute because that's how she looked when she acted like this. And if he were even _more_ honest with himself, he would admit that he was a _tiny_ bit jealous of how close she was to Roxas. So that, combined with how cute and funny it was when she got mad, made pushing her buttons so satisfying.

And the best part? It was so _easy_! It didn't take much for him to send her into a frenzy, and so far he loved every second of it.

"Ooh," Axel mused, his smirk coming in full force. "Having her around is gonna be _fun_."

* * *

It had only been a couple hours since Roxas left, and Nikki already wanted him to come back. For one, Axel wasn't nearly as irritating when the younger Nobody was around; in fact, both of them tried to be on their best behavior in his company because he wanted so badly for them to get along-both being his best friends, and all. But it couldn't be helped. Roxas was away on missions, and she had no idea when he would be back, so she was stuck dealing with Captain Smartass.

No matter where she tried to go, which wasn't far because she knew so little about the castle that she could get lost in less than a minute if left on her own, Axel was there, offering his undesired input and pushing Nikki's buttons to the point where she was now contemplating murder. She had hoped to be safe from his pestering in her bedroom, but, apparently, being the captive meant her right to privacy didn't exist. The only place she could go where he wouldn't follow was the bathroom, but she couldn't stay in there all day.

"Are you back in bed _again_?"

Nikki growled and pulled the covers over her head in an attempt to ignore the intruder, reminding Axel of a moody, antisocial cat.

"Go away." She hissed, not helping Axel's imagination. He was expecting a pair of ears to pop up on her head any minute.

"Now, now, you can't stay in bed all day." Axel chided playfully. "You should be outside, enjoying the sunshine."

" _What '_ sunshine'?" Came Nikki's shout from under the blanket. "There is no sunshine! There isn't even a sun out there! All I see is a giant moon!"

"You're awfully grouchy today. I take it you're not a morning person?"

"It's _noon_ , jackass!"

"Nope. Definitely not a morning person."

"Piss off!"

"I bet you'd get up if Roxas asked you to..."

"Leave him out of this!"

Axel had to duck to avoid the book that Nikki threw at him, and it bounced off the wall before landing in a crumpled heap on the floor.

"I'll stay in bed as long as I want!" The brunette snarled as she threw more books. She tossed one after another, each hitting the wall with a "bang!" as Axel kept dodging them. She kept throwing until the stack on the dresser was gone. With her ammo exhausted, she retreated back under the covers, harshly yanking them over her head. "Now leave me alone and _get out of my room_!"

Even after that display, Axel wasn't the least bit fazed by her aggression. The way he saw it, she was just a pissy little kitten having a hissy fit after being woken up from its nap. He had to admit though, she had a good arm. Still, she seemed angry enough, so leaving her alone for a little while until she cooled down was the smart thing to do.

"All right, fine." He conceded. "Have it your way, sweetheart."

He moved to walk away, but stopped after two steps. The redhead was motionless for a moment as he thought about what he was about to do. You see, a thought had crossed his mind, and it gave him a wicked idea, one that he was sure would get a big reaction out of Nikki. He saw it on the internet once, and though he was thinking of testing it out on Roxas, he decided Nikki would be a better guinea pig. Sure, she would be even angrier, and there was a chance that she could actually hit him, but the risk was definitely worth the reward. Ever so silently, Axel walked over to Nikki's bed and slowly lifted the covers before climbing into bed with her. At first she didn't seem to notice; probably trying to tune him out again, so he made himself comfortable and waited for the fireworks.

Nikki had her back to Axel and the covers were over her head, so she hadn't seen or heard him coming. The shift in weight on the other side of the bed was so subtle that she hardly even noticed it. Since she couldn't hear Axel anymore, she thought he'd left. She didn't hear the door open or close, so she figured he must have used a portal to leave.

 _"Finally,"_ She thought. _"I'm alone. Now I can just lay here and wait for Roxas to come back."_

Now that Axel had left, she didn't have to put up with the hot, suffocating air beneath the blanket to hide from him. Pulling the covers down, Nikki took in a deep breath of cool air and sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. Opening her eyes, she stared at the ceiling for a while, and even in the darkness of the room it still looked miserable and dull. She turned over on her side, and froze. Inches from her face was a pair of bright green eyes.

"Morning, Honey~." Axel greeted her with a smirk.

The scream that came out of her was loud enough to be put in the book of world records. He was sure the whole castle could hear it. In fact, Zexion, who had gone to the library after his conversation with Nikki, jumped and dropped the stack of books he was holding. To escape the intruder in her bed, Nikki jumped out of bed and onto the floor, breathing heavily.

"Nice landing." Axel complimented.

"Holy Jesus crap on a stick, what the bloody hell is wrong with you?" She demanded, ignoring him. "What the hell are you doing in my bed?!"

The redhead simply stretched, raising his arms above his head. Resting his head on his hands, he wriggled around on the mattress, making himself comfortable. "Nice bed." He said. He added with a smirk, "It's more comfortable than mine. Wanna switch?"

"Get out of my bed!" Nikki ordered, stomping her foot.

Axel shook his head. "Nope. Your bed's comfy. I think I'll hang out here for a while."

Nikki was so frustrated, she almost started tearing her hair out. He was doing this on purpose, she just knew it. There was no way someone could be this irritating on accident. Roxas may not be aware of her dislike of the pyro, but Axel certainly caught on, likely from the second they met, and is now trying to make her miserable. And the worst part was that there was no escape from it. She couldn't leave the castle on her own, not without getting herself killed, anyway.

But you know what? Screw it. She wasn't going to put up with this. She was going to find a way out of the castle, one way or another.

"I'm going to the bathroom!" She blurted out before turning on her heel and walking out the door. She slammed it behind her, not caring what Axel's reaction was going to be, or if he was going to try and follow her.

After shutting the door, Nikki took off running down the hallway. She went in the same direction as the bathroom, but never went inside, continuing down the seemingly endless corridor. She tried looking for any hints that she was heading towards the exit, taking every twist and turn possible, but everything looked exactly the same no matter what direction she took. It was like being trapped in a giant maze, but unlike other mazes, this one didn't seem to end. She was beginning to wonder how the Organization members could even figure out where they were going, because she sure as hell didn't know. Except for the bathrooms, there were no signs indicating where anything was. But she kept running, even when her muscles ached and her lungs were burning.

As she took the next corner, a flash of silver flew by and Nikki skidded to a halt when she saw that several Dusks had appeared in her path. She tried looking for a way around them, some kind of shortcut, but there wasn't one. And fighting them off wasn't an option. There was just too many of them.

"Going somewhere, sweetheart?"

At the familiar voice, Nikki cringed. "Oh no... don't tell me..."

Turning around slowly, she wasn't surprised to see Axel standing before her. His hands were on his hips, and he was still wearing that goddamn smirk, and she could see the amusement in his eyes. He even looked like he was trying to suppress a chuckle or two, which made this situation even more embarrassing.

"Hey Axel..." Nikki droned.

"You're not trying to escape, are you?" He asked almost coyly, crossing his arms.

"No!" She exclaimed defensively. "I was just looking for the bathroom. I... forgot where it was."

Just from the look Axel gave her, she knew he didn't believe a word she said. His eyebrow was raised quizzically, and his lips were curled in a knowing smile. Arms still crossed, he leaned forward until he was at eye level with her before he said, "You're a _really_ bad liar, you know that?"

"Yeah, well, we can't all be good liars." Nikki shot back, looking directly into his eyes. She could have sworn that she saw something in his eyes when she said that; it _was_ directed at him after all, but it was gone as soon as it appeared.

If what she said insulted him, Axel didn't show it. He simply smiled and said, "You ready to go back to your room now, or do you wanna run around some more? I don't mind chasing you. I can be the cat if you'll be my mouse~."

At the last sentence, Nikki blushed, much to Axel's amusement, and growled, "Just take me back to my room!"

The redhead seemed more than happy to oblige, summoning a portal without any complaints or witty remarks, much to Nikki's relief. Since she ran around so much, it would simply be faster to use a Corridor of Darkness to return to her room, and because she was so tired from running, she wasn't going to complain. After the portal had fully materialized, Axel stepped aside and bowed graciously before her, and said in the most polite tone he could muster, "Ladies first."

Nikki scowled at his mock-politeness, responding to his chivalry with a loud "Hmph!" as she stomped through the portal, Axel following close behind her.

* * *

 _Grrrrrrrr..._

Nikki dutifully ignored the noises coming from her stomach as she laid on her new bed, once again curled up under the covers. It had been almost an hour since Axel had taken her back to her room. Thankfully, he had left her alone since then, but she knew that he was nearby just waiting for her to leave her room and run into him again. So, to avoid that, Nikki stayed in her room, even as hunger began to set in.

 _GRRRRRRRRRRR..._

The next growl was louder, and hunger pains followed not long after. She attempted to smother it by wrapping her arms around her stomach, but the feeling persisted.

 _ **GRRRRRRRRRRRR!**_

 _"ALL RIGHT, FINE!"_

Cursing her hungry stomach, Nikki reluctantly got up and left the room.

She had no trouble finding the kitchen this time, making a beeline for the refrigerator as soon as she entered the room. Finding nothing she particularly liked, she then checked the cabinets. Still nothing. Sandwiches were out of the question, since it was dinnertime. From the looks of it, the Organization needed to do some shopping because there was hardly any food left.

"Great..." She grumbled, slamming the last cabinet door shut. "What am I supposed to eat now?"

"There's always takeout."

" _Eeek!_ " The sound came out before she could stop it, and she jumped. It's not like she expected Axel to be _right behind her,_ his voice right in her ear. He probably did that on purpose... the bastard.

Axel chuckled. "Oops. Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Nikki scoffed. Sorry my ass, she thought. He wasn't sorry at all.

"What do you want?" She growled.

"You're hungry, right?" Axel said. "I can go out and get you something, if you want. So? What're you hungry for?"

Nikki eyed him suspiciously. He was being too nice. But she really was hungry, and an embarrassingly loud growl from her stomach proved it. Keeping her gaze downcast so she couldn't see Axel's amused smirk, she grumbled, "I don't care. Just no shellfish. I'm... allergic."

At first Axel just stared at her for a few seconds, then just shrugged and said, "Okay. I'll be right back."

He summoned a portal and began to walk through it, but, since apparently he can't leave her alone without aggravating her in some way, he cheekily said, "Don't go running off now, you hear?" before disappearing. Nikki huffed and crossed her arms, snidely mimicking him and sticking her tongue out. Sure, it was childish, but it gave her some satisfaction, at least.

* * *

Axel found himself at Radiant Garden's food market, staring at food for much longer than he should be. There were lots of foods to choose from, and they all looked equally good, but he wasn't just picking out something for him. He was getting food for a girl too. A girl he knew very little about. A girl that hated his guts, for some weird reason. She didn't seem too picky, being able to eat three different types of peanut butter sandwiches, and she said herself that she didn't care what he picked out, but he couldn't help but have trouble picking out something for this girl to eat.

Should he choose a kind of soup, or would she prefer a salad? Depends. Girls like to fuss over calories, don't they? Then salad would be the better option, probably. Then again, she didn't strike him as a salad eater. Did she like meat, or was she a vegetarian? Her supposed shellfish allergy ruled out a lot of seafood dishes, basically anything that wasn't straight-up fish, and as much as they didn't like each other, he didn't want to put her in the hospital.

Why did getting food for a girl have to be so difficult?

Because _girls_ are difficult, that's why. Anything involving women was so needlessly complicated...

After nearly an hour of just standing there, Axel just decided to randomly pick things out, carefully avoiding the shellfish, and have it wrapped up to take back to the castle. Carrying two bags full of food, Axel waited until he was away from prying eyes before summoning a portal.

* * *

When Axel returned to the castle, he found Nikki had been patiently waiting at the kitchen table, amusing herself by stacking plastic cups into a pyramid. It appeared that she was so focused on her task that she hadn't even noticed him. As he watched her, amused, he noticed how her eyebrows were knitted together and how her tongue was partially sticking out from between her lips, and he couldn't help but think that she looked kind of cute. Quietly setting the bags on the counter, he stalked up behind her as she was carefully setting a cup onto the pyramid she had built, and said casually, "Nice job. It looks a little lopsided, though."

Once again, he was so close that she could feel his breathing on the back of her neck. Letting out a small-and high-pitched-squeal, Nikki jumped, dropping the cup and causing the pyramid to collapse, sending plastic cups everywhere.

"Jesus _Bloody_ Christ, are you trying to give me a bloody heart attack?!" She exclaimed angrily as she whirled around to face him, her face beet red. "And what took you so damn long? I've been waiting for a bloody hour!"

"Aw, did my little kitten miss me?" Axel cooed as he patted Nikki on the head, making her growl.

"You couldn't pay me to miss you!" Nikki hissed as she slapped his hand away. "I wanna know. Are you an annoying, insufferable git to everyone, or is it just me?"

"Not everyone. Just with you." He replied, using his finger to bop her on the nose. "'Cuz you're _special_. And you're just so _cute_ when you're angry."

The brunette's eye twitched. "I'm gonna kill you..."

"Hey guys!"

Both of them turned to see Roxas enter the kitchen, tired and a little beaten up, but his face lit up as soon as he saw his two friends. Nikki jumped away from Axel and did her best to eliminate all her hostility towards the redhead, who still stood there with that same smirk on his face.

"Hey Roxas." They both said at once.

The younger Nobody took a look at the mess of cups, and asked, "Why are there cups everywhere?"

"Nikki was making a pyramid." Axel said before Nikki could answer, casually putting an arm around her shoulder. "She was doing really well until it collapsed."

"And whose fault was that?" The brunette inquired, looking at Axel accusingly. It took all her self control not to shove him.

Axel just looked away, whistling innocently. "Wasn't me. I was out getting food, remember?"

Nikki just rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of which, who's hungry?"

"I am." Roxas said eagerly.

"Well then, let's eat."

"Not until you clean up this mess."

The three of them turned to find that both Zexion and Demyx had entered the kitchen. Demyx seemed excited, while Zexion looked mildly irritated.

Axel shrugged. "Fair enough." He patted Nikki on the shoulder. "Well, you heard him. Clean up your mess, dear."

"What?" Nikki exclaimed. "What do you mean _my_ mess?"

"You were the one playing with the cups." He said.

"If _you_ hadn't scared me, they wouldn't have all fallen down in the first place!" Nikki shot back.

"You _both_ can clean them up." Zexion interjected. "Since you're both equally at fault, it's your responsibility to pick up after yourselves."

Nikki opened her mouth to retort, but only ended up closing it again. There was no use arguing. She was the one that took the cups out in the first place, and Axel was responsible for knocking them down. If he hadn't scared her, she would have been able to neatly stack them up and put them away. But, when it comes to the redhead, fate is against her. Apparently Axel had the same thought, for he didn't object either. While the others watched, they picked up the mess of cups and put them back in the cupboard. Once they were finished, everyone sat down to eat.

"So how was your mission, Roxas?" Nikki asked, trying to start up some conversation since the silence was beginning to get to her. "Where did they send you this time?"

"Nowhere special." Roxas replied. "It was a just a mission to take out some Heartless in Halloween Town."

"Halloween Town's cool and all, but it's really creepy there." Demyx chimed in, shuddering a little.

"What'd you expect from a world where it's Halloween all year round? Rainbows and unicorns? It's _supposed_ to be creepy." Axel said.

"People like the rush they feel when in a fear-enducing situation that isn't life-threatening. They experience high levels of dopamine, which is a chemical in your brain that regulates how you perceive and experience pleasure. For instance-"

"Yeah, yeah, enough with the boring science talk already, it makes my head hurt." Axel cut Zexion off, making the schemer scowl at being interrupted.

"I apologize if large words confuse you, Axel. Not everyone can have an extended vocabulary. I doubt you could even spell 'dopamine.'" Zexion hissed.

"D-O-P-A-M-I-N-E." Axel spelled out the word accurately, smirking triumphantly as he pointed at the other Nobody. " _Eat it_."

"Oh, he got you, Zexion." Demyx snickered. Zexion's eye twitched.

"He got lucky that time." Nikki said, chuckling. "I bet Zexion knows words so long that Axel couldn't spell them if his life depended on it."

"Is that a challenge, sweetheart?" The redhead objected cockily. "You want a science nerd spelling bee? I'll be more than happy to give you one. Go and get me a dictionary."

"You can't use a dictionary!" Roxas interjected. "That's cheating!"

"It's not cheating! I'm just gonna sneak a quick look at the words first."

"That's totally cheating!"

"Not if you have a photographic memory, like me."

"As immature as this is, I am confident that if I engaged in a spelling contest with you, I would have a higher chance of winning." Zexion said confidently, the slightest smirk on his face.

"You willing to bet on that, shorty?" Axel challenged.

"Most definitely." The schemer shot back. "The loser gets dish duty for a year."

"Oh, you're on!"

"I don't know about you guys, but my money's on Zexion." Nikki said.

"Mine too." Said Demyx.

"Count me in!" Roxas chimed in.

"You're betting _against_ me?" Axel exclaimed dejectedly. "Roxas, how could you?! You're my best friend!"

"Sorry dude," The young Nobody defended himself. "But a spelling contest? Yeah, Zexion's definitely gonna win that one."

"You're all traitors." The redhead spat at them, making them laugh.

Needless to say, Zexion knew _way_ more words than Axel could ever spell, and the redhead not only lost the contest, but was stuck doing dishes for a year.

For the first time since Nikki arrived at the castle, she was able to hang out with a group of people and joke and laugh, even if Roxas was the only person out of the bunch that she could actually call a friend. It was then that she thought about her friends back on Destiny Island. They must be worried sick, especially Sandy. But thinking about that would have to wait. Right now, she was enjoying herself and the company of the three Nobodies at the table, and thoughts about her family and friends would just have to wait until she was alone. If only she had her phone...

* * *

To be continued...


	6. The Beginning of Crazy

**Banshee:** Oh my God, _finally_! It feels like this took forever... That's only because I was trying to work on several things at once; from this, to other fanfictions, and of course my novel, which _totally_ wore my brain out _._ So don't worry, I'm not dead. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll get the next one out as soon as I can.

 **Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and the plot.**

* * *

Chapter Five: The Beginning of Crazy

* * *

Recap:

 _"Did you find anything yet?"_

 _That was the first thing Raymond Hale heard when he stepped through his front door. It was what he heard every day for weeks. And the person who repeatedly asked him this question was standing right in front of him, with an anxious look on her face and eyes red from crying, said eyes pleading, begging him for some good news. He sighed heavily and looked down, away from his wife, as he shook his head slowly, and she began crying again. He followed her as she walked into the living room and sat back down on the couch, where she buried her face in her hands as she sobbed. Raymond put his hand on his wife's shoulder, but it did nothing to console her._

 _"I'm sorry Catherine, but there is no sign of her anywhere. We've searched everywhere, even Destiny Island, and there is no trace of her. She's just... gone."_

 _"She can't be gone... She can't..."_

 _"I'm not going to give up, Catherine. We'll keep looking until we find her." He said, determined despite how tired he was. "It'll be all right."_

 _..._

 _"Do you think it was them?" A feminine voice asked._

 _"Of course it was. Those guys aren't above kidnapping." Said the boy to her right. "You of all people should know that, Kairi."_

 _"She must have gone after Roxas and got herself kidnapped." Said the tallest boy. "I told her to stay away from him, but she was too stubborn to listen, and now she's involved in this whole mess."_

 _"It's not Nikki's fault, Riku." Kairi said testily. "This is Organization XIII we're talking about. Like Sora said, they aren't above kidnapping. They're probably holding her hostage to get to Sora, just like they did with me."_

 _"I don't think Roxas had anything to do with it, though." Sora chimed in. "He's my Nobody. We're connected to each other. Heck, I bet they're friends by now. He wouldn't hurt her."_

 _"It's not him I'm worried about." Riku said. "It's the rest of them."_

 _"I dunno... I can't help but think this is our fault too.." Sora said guiltily, scratching the back of his neck. "We kept a lot of secrets from her." There was a brief pause as Riku and Kairi stared at him. He continued, "I mean, we were missing for a year; maybe two, and she must have been worried about us. But we never told her the full story of what happened. I can't help but think that maybe she wouldn't have gone looking for Roxas if we just told her everything..."_

 _"I don't think that matters anymore. What's done is done." Riku said with finality. "Nikki is missing, and we know for a fact that Organization XIII has her locked up in their castle. What we need to do is figure out how we're going to rescue her."_

 _"We could just rush in and kick their butts. You guys did the same thing when they kidnapped me." Kairi suggested._

 _"Yeah!" Sora agreed eagerly, his Keyblade appearing in his hand. "I say we go in guns blazing and hope for the best. Always works for me."_

 _"That won't work a second time." Riku shot his plan down, making the brunette sulk a little. "For one, we don't have Ansem the Wise or King Mickey helping us this time, and for two, they'd be expecting us. We need to have a plan."_

 _"So what's the plan, then?" Sora asked eagerly._

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _"I don't know yet."_

* * *

Nikki woke up that morning feeling miserable. Absolutely miserable.

She was sure that she was gone for at least a month by now, and in that time she has already met all of the members of Organization XIII. Some meetings were pleasant, like with Roxas, Demyx and Zexion, while others were irritating, like Xigbar (who started calling her 'Kiddo' right out of the gate) and Axel (for obvious reasons), and the rest were either unsettling or scary (like with Xemnas and Saïx, respectively). Most of these encounters were left unwritten because the writer is lazy (/shot). But meeting all the members and knowing who they were wasn't enough for her to trust them. She didn't trust any of them. At all. With the exception of Roxas, they were all fake, drawing from the memories of their former lives as humans to fake their emotions when responding to anything.

Roxas was the only person in that whole castle that felt real to her... or as real as a Nobody could be. From the get go, Roxas was friendly and helpful, and was willing to do anything to help her feel more at home in the castle. Of course, what did she expect from Sora's Nobody? They had their differences, but in some areas, they seemed like the same person.

Axel was Roxas' best friend, but that didn't make him trustworthy in Nikki's eyes. The fact that he was the organization's assassin, as well as a double agent, didn't make him look any better. To her, he was a sneaky, green-eyed snake in the grass that was just waiting to sink his fangs into her while her back was turned. He was difficult to read, always calm and calculating, and it both irritated and unnverved her. Plus, he was annoying, always addressing her with cute little pet names, like "sweetheart" and "kitten," knowing full well how much it embarrassed and angered her, and calling her "cute." At least Roxas seems to affect him in a positive way.

Then there was Demyx. Sure, he was nice to her, but he is a lazy coward at the end of the day.

Zexion seems nice enough, always polite and explaining things in detail no matter what questions he was asked. But, in the end, he was a scientist, and it seemed as though he only hung around her because she was something for him to study.

But, despite this, these four Nobodies were the closest things she had to friends in the castle; even Axel, whom Nikki couldn't stand because of his attitude, but she put up with him because of Roxas. Nonetheless, she missed her family and friends, the people she had known for practically her entire life, and would have given anything to see them again.

Only Roxas seemed to notice how unhappy she was, and decided to address it one day.

"What's wrong, Nikki?" Roxas asked her, after taking in her miserable appearance.

"I miss my family.." Nikki mumbled. "They must all be worried sick about me. Maybe they wouldn't be so worried if I could call them and let them know I'm okay. But my phone's gone..."

"What if I could get your phone back for you?"

Nikki immediately perked up at this, and said excitedly, "You can?"

"I can try." He said. "Last I heard, Axel had it."

The brunette's eyes widened. _"Axel?_ He's _the one that took my phone? Can't say I'm surprised.."_

"That's great, Roxas!" Nikki exclaimed. "How soon can you get it?"

Roxas crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Well, Axel had it last, so I can ask him where it is." He said. "He might still have it, so I might be able to get it back to you by tonight. The battery has to be dead by now, though.."

"Who cares if it's dead?" Nikki said. "As long as I get it back in one piece, that's good enough."

* * *

"Are you sure this will work?"

Roxas simply nodded at Nikki's question as he untangled the mess of wire that was his phone charger, plugging it into the outlet by his bed once he was finished. Yes, he has a phone. According to him, while he and Axel were hanging out in Twilight Town, he saw some kids his age texting on their phones and commented to the redhead on how he thought it would be cool if they could do the same thing; when they were too far apart to speak directly to each other, of course. Axel apparently thought it was a good idea, for he got them both a cell phone, which they used to send each ther text messages every so often.

"Okay, here goes." Roxas said, plugging the cord into Nikki's phone. The screen was dark for a moment before an hourglass appeared on the screen, displaying a one percent battery signal. "It worked!"

The brunette gasped excitedly, hugging Roxas. "Roxas, you brilliant boy, you did it! I could kiss you right now!"

So she did. The Nobody's face turned bright red as she planted a big kiss on his cheek.

"Ugh!" He groaned, squirming out of her grip. "What is it with girls and hugging and kissing?"

Nikki chuckled. Boys...

With the phone still plugged in, Nikki took the device and opened it. Immediately she found it flooded with voicemails and messages from her loved ones, all frantically wondering where she was. The sheer amount of these messages made Nikki wince. "Oh boy..." She said.

"What're you gonna do?" Roxas asked.

"Well I have to call them." She replied. "If I can't go back home, I can at least let them know I'm okay."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "And what are you gonna tell them, exactly? That you're being held prisoner in a castle by an evil organization, but you're totally fine and they shouldn't worry? I doubt that'll make them feel better."

"I have to tell them _something_ , Roxas."

Nikki looked through her contacts, deciding who she should call. It didn't take much thought, however. When it came to bad news, it was always easier to tell her mother because her softer, more patient nature allowed her to take such news relatively well; in contrast to her father, who always reacted with utter shock and/or outrage every time she or her sister ever gave him particulatrly bad news. Every blood vessel in his brain would pop if she told him now and her mother wasn't around to calm him down. Finding her mother's number, Nikki dialed it and waited for the inevitable.

Her mother answered after one ring.

"Honey?" She asked tentavely. "Is that you?"

Nikki hesitated for a moment, before she answered. "Yeah, Mom. It's me."

...

...

...

"Mom?"

" _ **NICOLE JENNIFER HALE**_!" Came her mother's outraged reply. Nikki had to hold the phone away from her ear.

So much for her taking it well...

"Where have you been?" She demanded. "You've been gone for weeks! We've been worried sick about you!"

"Mom, I-"

"Dinnae interrupt me! Your father's been running himself ragged looking for you! He barely eats, he barely sleeps, he's an absolute _mess_! We were afraid something horrible happened to you! You'd better explain yourself _right now_ , lassie!"

Nikki gulped. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Well, Mom... It's kind of... complicated."

"Oh really?" Her mother said. "How so?"

Taking a deep breath, Nikki explained everything. It took a good ten minutes for her to get out every little detail, at least every one she could remember, and when she finished she waited for her mother's response. Not only did she tell her how she ended up there in the first place, but she had to explain everything that Roxas said to her or else nothing would make sense. At first there was a silence on the other end of the line, but then her mother spoke.

"I dinnae care how 'scary' or 'powerful' this 'Organization XIII' is." She said at last. "You're coming home right now, lassie. If they dinnae like it, that's just too bad. You're _my_ daughter."

"Yeah, good luck telling them that, Mom." Nikki mutttered.

"I will if I have to." Catherine said with a defiance that mirrored her daughter's. "I'll walk right up to that 'Superior' of theirs and tell him myself."

The brunette sighed. "They're not gonna let me go, Mom. They think they can use me against Sora."

"Oh, they won't, eh?" Her mother challenged. "We'll see about that."

"What are you gonna do?" Nikki asked, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

"I think I'll call your friends, Sora and Riku. According to you, they are 'Keyblade' wielders and have fought these people before-and beat them, too. They'll just have to beat them again."

 _Uh-oh_ , Nikki thought. If Sora and Riku got involved, then things would get a lot messier. She knew how those two were. Sora was the type of person to risk his own life for anybody, even people he had never met before, and his strong sense of justice wouldn't allow this situation to escape his attention. He would likely be the one to barge into the castle, Keyblade in hand, ready to throw down with the entire organization if necessary. As for Riku, he was always protective of his friends, and Nikki was no exception, often acting like her-very protective-younger brother.

Long story short, those two would wreak havoc on the castle. The idea made Nikki think of the members that she had grown to like. Sure, they drove her nuts sometimes, especially Axel, but she didn't want them to get hurt. According to Roxas, they were people once, and they just wanted their hearts back. Some of the members were evil, but the ones she knew weren't. She was actually glad that an intellectual, a lazy coward, a kid and a smartass was all she had to deal with right now.

She wanted to go home. She didn't want a war.

"Uh, Mom, some of these guys are kind of my friends..." She stated, making her mother gasp in disbelief.

"What? _Friends_? Oh dear Lord, she has Stockholm Syndrome..."

"I don't have Stockholm Syndrome, Mom!"

Catherine made a noise. "Oh, I think calling your captors your 'friends' qualifies as Stockholm Syndrome, Honey." She said.

Nikki rolled her eyes. "Trust me, nobody wants to beat these guys up more than me. It's just that I can't. Not without getting killed, anyway. These guys have superpowers, remember?"

Her mother wasn't convinced. With finality, she stated, "I'm calling them."

"Can't we resolve this without having Sora and Riku fight them?" Nikki proposed.

"I dinnae think so."

"Can we at least try?" She pressed. "Maybe we can work something out. If it doesn't work, then we'll kick their butts. Sound fair?"

There was a pause, then her mother replied, reluctantly, "... All right. I may not trust these people worth a damn, but I trust you. We'll do this your way, Honey. But dinnae expect your father to be happy about it."

Right. Her father. The man with a bad track record with handling bad news. This was going to be fun. Not.

"I just hope he doesn't give himself a heart attack..." Nikki said as she imagined her father's beet red face, his mustache bristling.

Catherine sighed. "Trust me, he will. You know how he takes these things. Cannae say I would blame him in this case."

"I know."

"I think we should meet their leader." Her mother suggested. "Perhaps we can reason with him."

The idea made Nikki scoff. _"I doubt that,"_ she thought. Xemnas was so out of touch with actual emotion that nothing he said would be believable. That, and he's manipulative and melodramatic, so reasoning with that man was impossible. He would just twist things around like he always does. She doubted he would even acknowledge her parents' request to meet in person anyway.

"Can you come by tomorrow?" Catherine asked hopefully.

"I'll work something out." Nikki said.

She heard her mother sigh. "Good. Be safe, sweetie. I love you."

"Love you too, Mom."

After hanging up, Nikki sighed and rested her head on her palm. The thought of what was about to happen was starting to give her a headache.

"So?" Roxas piped up after respectfully staying silent for the entire conversation. "What'd your mom say?"

Nikki told the young Nobody about her mother's request to speak to the Superior in person, which made the blonde's eyes widen.

"Your parents want to meet the Superior?" He asked.

"Yup."

"Bad idea."

"I know."

"What are we gonna do?" Roxas asked.

"I don't know." Nikki said. "But somebody has to go with me tomorrow, or else she'll call Sora and Riku, and they'll be beating down your door."

"You know I have to report this to Saïx, right?" The young Nobody said after a moment of silence.

Nikki sighed. "Yeah, I know." She said. "What do you think he'll say?"

"Nothing good." Roxas replied. "But he might agree to something if it'll keep Sora and Riku from coming. They already beat the Organization once. I doubt the others would want that to happen again."

"Good point." Nikki agreed.

Sighing, Roxas got up from his spot on Nikki's bed. "I have to report to the Grey Area for missions anyway. I'll ask him about it while I'm there." He said.

"Okay." The brunette responded.

Once Roxas disappeared through a portal, Nikki leaned forward and put her face in her hands. This whole situation was getting more and more messy and complicated as the days went by, and she was starting to think that there wasn't going to be an easy way to resolve it; not without a friend getting hurt, anyway.

She sighed heavily.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

* * *

When Roxas returned a few hours later, he found Nikki had fallen asleep, curled up in a ball with the covers pulled over her body. Despite her situation, she looked rather relaxed, her deep breathing indicating that she had been asleep fo a while. Normally, upon finding her like this, the young Nobody would turn around and leave, but the others had followed him back and just had to catch a glimpse of the sleeping girl. Even Zexion would admit that she looked cute like this.

"Somebody's comfortable." Axel mused, chuckling.

"Should we wake her up?" Demyx asked.

Zexion shook his head. "No. Let her sleep. We can give her the news when she wakes up."

"Yeah, we should do that." Roxas agreed, nodding. "I don't think she's been sleeping well lately. Sometimes I can hear her crying at night..."

The others fell silent at this, a couple of them shifting on their feet as they looked down guiltily.

"Is it weird that I feel bad?" Demyx piped up. When the others looked at him, he clarified. "I mean, I was the one that caught her in the first place... She just wanted help finding her way out of the castle, and all I did was get her stuck here..."

"No, it's my fault." Roxas said remorsefully. "I'm the reason she ended up here. She wouldn't have followed me here if I had just talked to her instead of running away."

"It's no use blaming yourselves." Zexion said. "What's done is done. The best thing we can do is try to make this work. Now let's go before we wake her up."

"Too late.."

The Nobodies turned just in time to see Nikki slowly sit up, rubbing her eyes as she turned to look at them. She sat with her shoulders slumped and eyes only half-open, and she looked as tired as she sounded.

"What's going on?" She asked groggily, rubbing her eyes again.

"We just have something to tell you." Roxas said. "But it can wait if you're too tired..."

"I'm fine." Nikki said forcefully. She then turned so that her legs were hanging off the bed. "What do you want to tell me?"

Roxas scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, you see..."

* * *

Earlier That Day

* * *

"Your mission today is simple." Saïx stated as he stood before the youngest member, his hands folded behind his back in a professional and intimidating manner. "The number of Heartless in Wonderland has increased, and it is becoming a nuisance. Put that Keyblade of yours to good use and eliminate as many of them as possible. You are dismissed, XIII."

When Roxas didn't move, he raised an eyebrow and his eyes narrowed into a glare. "What are you standing around for? Get going."

"I just have something to ask you first, Sir." Roxas said as politely as possible. "It's about Nikki."

"You mean the girl? What about her?" The berserker asked with complete disinterest.

Roxas couldn't help but feel a small spike of anger at Saïx's response. The blue-haired man had made it _very_ clear that he couldn't stand Nikki, and saw fit to insult her at every opportunity. He didn't even have the courtesy to use her name when he talked to or about her, always referring to her as "the girl." It always made the young Nobody's blood boil. Nonetheless, he had to ask him about the meeting; for Nikki's sake.

Taking a deep breath, Roxas did his best to explain Nikki's parents' request to speak to the Superior in person, even stressing the fact that they will call the Keyblade wielders, Sora and Riku, to come fight the organization if they are unable to come to an agreement. Saïx didn't even bother to question how they knew, likely because he already knew the answer, being the shrewd man that he is.

"No." Saïx said immediately after Roxas finished. "The Superior isn't going to waste his time on something so ridiculous."

"But _somebody_ has to talk to her parents, or else Sora and Riku will beat the whole organization... _again_!"

The berserker sighed in exasperation at Roxas' insistence.

"Fine. If this nonsense is so important to you, then _you_ can go with her. But make sure she understands that she is still our prisoner. If she tries to escape, or if you allow her to, there _will_ be consequences. Understood?"

"Understood, Sir."

"Good. Now go complete your mission, or you'll be put on mop duty for a month."

Roxas didn't need to be told twice. Mop duty sucked, almost as much as cleaning the toilets. He conjured a portal and walked through it without a second thought.

* * *

Present

* * *

"So that's what he said, huh?" Nikki said after Roxas finished his retelling of the event, not at all surprised by Saïx's response. She then added, bitterly, "Can't say I'm surprised. Scarface never did like me. He makes a point of telling me all the time."

"Maybe he'd hate you less if you didn't call him 'Scarface' all the time." Axel pointed out, smirking. "Me personally, I think it's brilliant."

"I'd hardly call insulting someone with the ability to enter a berserk state and pound you into a bloody pulp 'brilliant.'" Zexion chided them. "Unless you're _planning_ on getting yourself killed brutally, that is."

Axel just rolled his eyes.

"At any rate," The schemer continued, bringing the subject back on track. "According to Roxas, Saïx _did_ say that he could go with you. He couldn't do it alone of course, being our youngest member and all, so the rest of us have decided to offer our help as well."

"Really?" Nikki asked. "All of you?"

"Of course, Nikki." Roxas said, smiling. "We're your friends."

At first, Nikki didn't know how to react. She just sat there in mild shock for almost a minute, eyes a little wider than normal and mouth agape, as her brain was trying to process the young Nobody's words. They really considered themselves her friends? She had only been there for about a month, and hadn't known the Nobodies for as long as everyone else. However, they were nice to her and were the closest things to friends that she had in this castle. After a while, she smiled.

"Thank you."

* * *

The Next Day

* * *

Nikki stood in front of the door to her house, the Nobodies standing right behind her, her hand raised as she prepared to knock and announce their presence. However, her hand froze just before her fist made contact with the door, nervously shaking. She jumped a little when she felt Roxas' hand on her shoulder.

"Go ahead." He encouraged. "Don't worry, it'll be okay."

Feeling slightly braver, Nikki took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Almost immediately afterward, the lock was undone and the door was flung open, and she found herself being smushed against her mother's chest.

"Oh, thank goodness! My wee girl! I've been so worried about you..."

"Mom..." Nikki choked out. "I... can't... breathe..."

"Oh!" Her mother gasped, then released her. "Sorry, sweetie.."

She gently grasped her daughter's face in her hands and turned her head from side to side, inspecting her.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly. "You're not hurt, are you? I swear, if they hurt one hair on your beautiful little head, I'll-"

" _Mom_." Nikki said forcefully. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

" _Yes_."

Nikki's mother sighed and released her face, looking noticeably more relieved than she was before. There was still that hint of unease and fear in her body language, but she seemed to be better now that she could look her daughter in the eye again. She then turned and looked directly at the Nobodies beside Nikki, finally acknowledging their presence.

"Hello," She greeted with the most sincere smile she could muster. "I'm Catherine; Nikki's mother. Please, come in. I'll get some tea started."

Catherine then turned sharply on her heel and walked back inside. At first the Nobodies were reluctant to go into the house, for obvious reasons, but after some encouragement from Nikki, who assured them that her parents "won't bite," they slowly made their way inside.

As soon as they walked through the door, they immediately felt the tension inside the house. It got even worse when they reached the kitchen, where Nikki's parents were waiting for them. While Catherine was getting the tea ready, her father, Raymond, sat at the table. As soon as he saw them enter, he sat up straight and took his gun out of his pocket, placing it on the table without a word; all while maintaining eye contact and looking as intimidating as possible.

"Hi Dad." Nikki said cautiously.

"Hello Love." He greeted her in a gentle, fatherly fashion. His tone was different when addressing the Nobodies; harsh and commanding, with a hint of forced politeness. "Lieutenant Raymond Hale. A pleasure. Please, have a seat."

He gestured to the empty seats at the table, and they all sat down. Shortly after, Catherine began passing around the finished tea, which they accepted.

"So," He began, leaning forward a bit. "Which one of you is the leader of this little _organization_ of yours?"

"None of us, Sir." Roxas spoke up. "The Superior is... well... He's..."

"He's not coming." Zexion interjected. "Negotiating with humans would be a waste of his time. He has, however, given us permission to speak with you and resolve this issue before it can escalate any further."

"Is that so?"

"You must understand, Mr. Hale. We are Nobodies. Without our hearts, we cannot feel emotion in the true sense. We only have our memories to remind us what it felt like to have them. Our Superior is currently working on a way to help us retrieve our lost hearts. Anything that doesn't have to do with his plan is considered insignificant, or a 'waste of time.'"

"And what does my daughter have to do with this 'plan' of his?" Raymond inquired.

"Nothing." Zexion said simply.

"Then what is the point in keeping her, then?" Raymond demanded, raising his voice. "Let her go if she's of no use to you!"

"I'm not sure why she's being kept at the castle. All we were told was that she would be our 'permanent guest.' It could be because of her connection to the Keyblade wielder, Sora. Perhaps the Organization is planning to use her against him in some way."

"That's not happening."

Everyone turned at the new, yet familiar, voice, and saw Sora and Riku enter the kitchen. The white-haired young male had his arms crossed as he gave the Nobodies a harsh glare, while the spiky-haired brunette beside him, while sporting a glare of his own, looked more relieved upon seeing Nikki unharmed. Riku was relieved too, though he was too busy glaring to show it.

Nikki stared at them, shocked. "Sora? Riku? What are you guys doing here?" She asked.

"Your dad called us. He wanted us to make sure that when they-" Riku nodded towards the Nobodies, "-left, that they wouldn't be able to take you with them."

Nikki immediately turned on her father, her eyes blazing. "Dad? _You_ called them? What the hell? I thought we were doing this _my_ way! Right, Mom?"

"I'm so sorry, Honey..." Her mother apologized. "I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't listen. I told you he wasn't going to be happy about this.."

"You're damn right I'm not happy!" Her father barked angrily. "You expect me to just stand by while the only daughter I have left is kept prisoner in some castle? No sir! Not going to happen!"

"I'm handling it, Dad!"

"Oh, are you now?" The mustached man inquired in a disbelieving tone. "And how exactly do you 'handle' being kept prisoner, hm?"

"All I'm trying to do is work things out without any fighting! The last thing I want is for my friends to get hurt!"

Raymond scoffed. " _Friends_? These people are keeping you prisoner, and you call them your _friends_?"

"Well, more or less." Nikki said, shrugging.

"They're not your friends, Nikki." Riku interjected. "They're only pretending to be. Except for Roxas, they're all liars who fake their emotions. You can't trust anything they say."

"That's not fair." Demyx said dejectedly. "Just because we don't have hearts doesn't mean we can't care about Nikki. She's our friend too!"

"And yet you're keeping her prisoner in your castle. Yeah, I can tell you're such good friends." Riku remarked sarcastically.

"That's not our fault!" Roxas yelled. "The Superior made that decision, not us! If it was up to us, we'd have let her go a long time ago!"

"Everyone, please, calm down." Catherine implored. "Arguing isn't going to help."

"She's right." Sora spoke up. "Let's all just chill out, okay?"

While the conversation continued, Axel, who had remained silent through this whole exchange so far, took the time to take in everything around him. To say the situation was tense was a serious understatement. Both Nikki and her father were getting steadily more irritated as time went by, though for different reasons; Raymond was getting angry at the fact that no matter what he said, Organization XIII wasn't going to let his daughter go, which was understandable, while Nikki was angry that things weren't going the way she planned. Riku, while trying to be level-headed, was being mildly antagonistic, though he understood why; the Organization has screwed with him and Sora in the past, so of course he didn't trust any of them worth a pile of crap. Sora and Catherine were trying to keep the peace, with limited success. The whole time this was happening, the Hales' dog, Butch, sat at Nikki's feet, growling at the Nobodies as the brunette absentmindedly scratched him behind the ears. At least they weren't trying to destroy each other... yet.

"Enough of this!" Raymond exclaimed heatedly. "Nicole belongs _here_ , with her _family_ , and that's final. She's already missed an entire month of school, which is unacceptable because I'll have you know that before she disappeared, she had a perfect attendance record. Even during her rougher years, she still never missed one single, solitary day of school, I tell you what-"

" _Dad_!" Nikki cut him off, her tone a mix of angry and embarrassed. "You're rambling again!"

"Oh, am I? Sorry, Love. I just get so proud of you, that I-"

"I know." She drawled with a sigh of exasperation. "Can we get back on track, please?"

"Oh. Right, right, right..." Raymond cleared his throat politely. "As I was saying before, our daughter is staying _here_ , with her family. If you think for one second that I'll let her go back with you, then you're out of your bloody minds!"

Zexion shook his head and said, "I'm afraid that's not up to you; or us, for that matter. Like Roxas said, the Superior made the decision to keep her in the castle, and unless we wish to be turned into Dusks, we obey his orders. She stays with us until the Superior sees fit to release her."

"No way!" Riku objected, his Keyblade materializing in his hand. "We're not going to let you clowns use her like you did Kairi. She's not a pawn in your 'master plan.'"

"That's right." Sora agreed fervently, summoning his Keyblade as well. "We don't want to fight you again; the first time was absolutely exhausting, but we will if we have to!"

"Nobody is fighting anybody." Nikki interjected, feeling both tired and aggravated. "What part of 'I want to resolve this without fighting' don't you understand? It doesn't matter if we like it or not. Either way, I'm going to be staying at the castle... probably forever. I don't want my friends getting hurt fighting a pointless battle just for my sake. We're doing this _my way,_ understand? Now put your damn Keyblades away before I beat you over the head with them!"

"But-"

" _Away._ _**NOW**_."

Riku opened his mouth to protest, but a harsh glare from Nikki silenced him. He glanced at Sora with a look that clearly said "Come on, back me up," but the brunette just shrugged. The taller male let out an annoyed groan and looked to Nikki's parents, hoping they would say something, but Catherine stopped her husband before he could speak by tugging on his mustache. He was shocked when he saw Sora's Keyblade disappear.

"You've got to be kidding me." He grumbled. "Sora, come on. You know how these people are. You know what they've done. They used that Naminé girl to try to brainwash you into being their puppet by messing with your memories. Mr. Illusions over there-" He nodded towards Zexion, who scowled, "-tried to manipulate me into thinking you would turn against me. And let's not forget that Axel's the one that kidnapped Kairi, and they imprisoned her in their castle so they could use the fact that they had her to manipulate you into gathering hearts for them! We can't trust them. We have to end this _now_!"

Sora sighed. "I know what they've done, Riku. But Nikki seems really serious about this... and I _really_ don't want her to beat me with my own Keyblade... I trust her. I think we should do this her way."

"You can't be serious..."

"You trust her, don't you?"

"Yes, I do, but-"

"Then drop it."

"But-"

"Drop it."

"Sora-"

"Drop it."

"Sora, just let me-"

" _Drop it_."

"All right!" Riku yelled. He then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as his Keyblade disappeared. "All right. Fine."

Then he turned to face the Nobodies, his expression deadly serious, and spoke in a tone that matched his face. "But I want to make one thing clear: If you do anything, _anything_ at all to hurt Nikki, I swear I will strike down each and every one of you. Got it?"

Sora nodded in agreement, his eyes blazing. "That does double for me."

"Got it." Demyx squeaked from his hiding place behind Roxas, who rolled his eyes at his superior's cowardice.

Zexion just nodded. "Understood."

"I swear I will not harm one hair on her pretty little head." Axel promised. He then drew an 'X' on his chest where his heart should have been, and added cheekily, "Cross my heart."

Roxas smacked him. "Be serious!"

"I am. See? Crossed my heart and everything."

"You'll protect her, won't you Roxas?" Sora asked, his expression and voice softening as he addressed his Nobody.

Roxas gave him a strange look. "Why _wouldn't_ I protect her?" He inquired. "She's my friend."

"I know you will. I just wanted to hear you say it."

"This is _madness_!" Nikki's father exclaimed, flabbergasted. "Absolute _madness_! My daughter is being kept prisoner, and I'm expected to be _okay_ with it?"

"It doesn't matter if any of us is okay with it, Dad." Nikki said. "It's happening, and we're all just going to have to deal with it for now."

"But-"

Nikki hugged her father, effectively cutting him off.

"It's okay, Dad." She said softly, tightening her hold on him briefly. "I'll be fine. Please, trust me."

Raymond was silent for a moment, his words of anger and disapproval dying on his tongue the second his daughter hugged him. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her, returning her affectionate gesture, his hold on her a little too tight; as if he was afraid she would be ripped away from him at any moment. Catherine, who was standing beside them, had tears in her eyes. Unable to hold herself back any longer, she joined in on their hug, her arms winding around both her husband and daughter. Sora and Riku, as well as the Nobodies, remained respectfully silent, letting them have their moment.

"Of course I trust you, Love." He said at last, a little choked up. "Just... be sure to call, yeah?"

"I will." She replied.

The moment was interrupted when a portal materialized in the middle of the room. A Dusk appeared and stepped out of the darkness, making Nikki's parents tense up and jump back in alarm. Raymond reached for his gun and pointed it at the creature, but Nikki grasped it and forced him to put it down. The zipper on its mouth opened and the Dusk spoke to the Nobodies, disappearing once it was finished.

"What the devil was that?" Raymond exclaimed, referring to the strange creature.

"It was a Dusk. It's the lowest type of Nobody. They're basically the Organization's grunts." Nikki explained to him. She then turned to the Nobodies and asked, "What did it say?"

"We've been ordered to return to the castle at once. I'm sure Saïx has some missions for us. Either that, or he's getting suspicious about our long absence." Zexion said, getting up out of his chair. "We should get going now. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Mr. and Mrs. Hale."

Each Nobody politely said their goodbyes and filed out of the room, but Roxas stayed behind with Nikki, her parents and Sora and Riku.

"We're so sorry you got mixed up in all this, Nikki." Sora apologized. "Maybe this wouldn't have happened if we just told you everything from the start instead of keeping so much from you."

"And you probably wouldn't have ended up in the castle if I just talked to you instead of running away..." Roxas said regretfully.

"It's okay. I forgive you." Nikki said, hugging them both. Riku escaped the hug by sidestepping out of the way. He wasn't much of a hugger.

"Just be careful, Nikki." Riku said. "I don't know if you realized this by now, but most of the members of Organization XIII are crazy."

"Oh, I know." Nikki replied, cringing at the memory of meeting some of the crazier members. "The way I see it, the members I brought here with me are the only sane ones out of the whole bunch."

"She's got a point." Sora agreed.

"Yeah, definitely." Roxas also agreed. He added, shuddering, "One time, I saw Larxene nearly tear Xigbar's arm off just for eating the piece of cake she left in the fridge.."

Nikki and the boys shuddered at the thought.

"If I may ask," Raymond interjected. "Will Nicole be returning to school now?"

"I'm sure the Superior wouldn't have a problem with it." Roxas assured him.

"And if he does, we'll just have a word with him, won't we dear?" Catherine said bravely, looking to her husband for support. He nodded in response.

"Are you guys coming, or what?" They heard Axel's voice from the foyer. "If we don't hurry up, Berserker Boy will come get us himself and trust me, you _do not_ want that!"

Roxas' eyes widened. "Yeah, we'd better go."

"Good idea." Nikki agreed.

The two of them said a quick goodbye to her parents, then to Sora and Riku, giving them quick hugs (Nikki managed to catch Riku as he tried to inch himself away), and then rushed out the door.

* * *

When they returned to the castle, they found Saïx waiting for them, hands folded behind his back.

"That took you long enough." He said with slight irritation. "What happened?"

"Aw, were you worried about us? I didn't know you cared so much, Saïx." Axel remarked cheekily. He went to pinch the berserker's cheek, but the other man caught his wrist before he could do so, his glare murderous.

"I don't." Saïx growled. "Honestly, I could care less if the girl's parents are okay with this arrangement or not. All I want to know is if we have to worry about the Keyblade wielders getting involved."

Roxas scowled. He had done it again; not using Nikki's name and talking about her like she wasn't there. Just as he was going to give the older man a piece of his mind, Nikki put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. She shook her head, silently telling him not to bother yelling at him. It wouldn't do any good anyway. Luckily, Axel knew just what to say.

"Don't worry, we took care of it. As long as Nikki remains safe and unharmed, they won't get involved." He said casually as the diviner released his wrist.

"Good." Saïx simply said. "You're dismissed for now, but I expect all of you to report to the Grey Area for your missions first thing tomorrow morning."

And with that, the diviner left, disappearing into a portal.

"Now what do we do?" Demyx asked.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to bed." Nikki declared, yawning. "Scarface can get as pissy as he wants. _I'm_ going to school tomorrow."

Yawning again, Nikki said good night to the Nobodies and went to her room.

Changing into one of her new pairs of pajamas, she got into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. Today had been absolutely exhausting, and even though it wasn't _her_ bed, she still felt comfortable enough in it to be able to fall asleep quickly. Little did she know, that as exhausting and irritating as today had been, it was only the beginning...

* * *

To be continued...


	7. Back to School

**Banshee:** Hello everyone! I am so sorry this took so long. This last year hasn't been the greatest, and 2019 didn't get off to a great start either. These last few months have been awful, and on top of problems at work, working on my writing has been about as slow as a Pok'emon Gen. 4 playthrough... But I will try to upload new chapters more frequently, possibly every three to five months. Okay, enough with my problems. Enjoy the chapter!  
 **Disclaimer:** I only own my OCs and the plot.

* * *

Chapter Six: Back to School

* * *

Recap:

 _"Our daughter is staying_ here _, with her family. If you think for one second that I'll let her go back with you, then you're out of your bloody minds!"_

 _Zexion shook his head and said, "I'm afraid that's not up to you; or us, for that matter. Like Roxas said, the Superior made the decision to keep her in the castle, and unless we wish to be turned into Dusks, we obey his orders. She stays with us until the Superior sees fit to release her."_

 _"No way!" Riku objected, his Keyblade materializing in his hand. "We're not going to let you clowns use her like you did Kairi. She's not a pawn in your 'master plan.'"_

 _"That's right." Sora agreed fervently, summoning his Keyblade as well. "We don't want to fight you again; the first time was absolutely exhausting, but we will if we have to!"_

 _"Nobody is fighting anybody." Nikki interjected, feeling both tired and aggravated. "What part of 'I want to resolve this without fighting' don't you understand? It doesn't matter if we like it or not. Either way, I'm going to be staying at the castle... probably forever. I don't want my friends getting hurt fighting a pointless battle just for my sake. We're doing this my way, understand? Now put your damn Keyblades away before I beat you over the head with them!"_

 _"But-"_

 _"_ Away. **NOW** _."_

 _Riku opened his mouth to protest, but a harsh glare from Nikki silenced him. He glanced at Sora with a look that clearly said "Come on, back me up," but the brunette just shrugged. The taller male let out an annoyed groan and looked to Nikki's parents, hoping they would say something, but Catherine stopped her husband before he could speak by tugging on his mustache. He was shocked when he saw Sora's Keyblade disappear._

 _"You've got to be kidding me." He grumbled. "Sora, come on. You know how these people are. You know what they've done. They used that Namin_ _é_ _girl to try to brainwash you into being their puppet by messing with your memories. Mr. Illusions over there-" He nodded towards Zexion, who scowled, "-tried to manipulate me into thinking you would turn against me. And let's not forget that Axel's the one that kidnapped Kairi, and they imprisoned her in their castle so they could use the fact that they had her to manipulate you into gathering hearts for them! We can't trust them. We have to end this now!"_

 _Sora sighed. "I know what they've done, Riku. But Nikki seems really serious about this... and I_ really _don't want her to beat me with my own Keyblade... I trust her. I think we should do this her way."_

 _"You can't be serious..."_

 _"You trust her, don't you?"_

 _"Yes, I do, but-"_

 _"Then drop it."_

 _"But-"_

 _"Drop it."_

 _"Sora-"_

 _"Drop it."_

 _"Sora, just let me-"_

 _"_ Drop it _."_

 _"All right!" Riku yelled. He then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as his Keyblade disappeared. "All right. Fine."_

 _Then he turned to face the Nobodies, his expression deadly serious, and spoke in a tone that matched his face. "But I want to make one thing clear: If you do anything,_ anything _at all to hurt Nikki, I swear I will strike down each and every one of you. Got it?"_

 _Sora nodded in agreement, his eyes blazing. "That does double for me."_

 _"Got it." Demyx squeaked from his hiding place behind Roxas, who rolled his eyes at his superior's cowardice._

 _Zexion just nodded. "Understood."_

 _"I swear I will not harm one hair on her pretty little head." Axel promised. He then drew an 'X' on his chest where his heart should have been, and added cheekily, "Cross my heart."_

 _Roxas smacked him. "Be serious!"_

 _"I am. See? Crossed my heart and everything."_

 _..._

 _When they returned to the castle, they found Sa_ _ï_ _x waiting for them, hands folded behind his back._

 _"That took you long enough." He said with slight irritation. "What happened?"_

 _"Aw, were you worried about us? I didn't know you cared so much, Sa_ _ï_ _x." Axel remarked cheekily. He went to pinch the berserker's cheek, but the other man caught his wrist before he could do so, his glare murderous._

 _"I don't." Sa_ _ï_ _x growled. "Honestly, I could care less if the girl's parents are okay with this arrangement or not. All I want to know is if we have to worry about the Keyblade Wielders getting involved."_

 _Roxas scowled. He had done it again; not using Nikki's name and talking about her like she wasn't there. Just as he was going to give the older man a piece of his mind, Nikki put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. She shook her head, silently telling him not to bother yelling at him. It wouldn't do any good anyway. Luckily, Axel knew just what to say._

 _"Don't worry, we took care of it. As long as Nikki remains safe and unharmed, they won't get involved." He said casually as the diviner released his wrist._

 _"Good." Sa_ _ï_ _x simply said. "You're dismissed for now, but I expect all of you to report to the Grey Area for your missions first thing tomorrow morning."_

 _And with that, the diviner left, disappearing into a portal._

 _"Now what do we do?" Demyx asked._

 _"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to bed." Nikki declared, yawning. "Scarface can get as pissy as he wants._ I'm _going to school tomorrow."_

 _Yawning again, Nikki said good night to the Nobodies and went to her room._

 _Changing into one of her new pairs of pajamas, she got into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. Today had been absolutely exhausting, and even though it wasn't her bed, she still felt comfortable enough in it to be able to fall asleep quickly. Little did she know, that as exhausting and irritating as today had been, it was only the beginning..._

* * *

When Nikki woke up the next morning, she was startled to find an excited-looking Roxas staring right back at her. The unexpected presence made her yelp, and she would have fallen off the bed if it wasn't up against the wall.

"Jesus _Bloody_ Christ, Roxas! Dinnae scare me like that!" She exclaimed, her hand on her chest. She looked at the time. It was 4:30 AM. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I'm here to take you to school."

Nikki blinked. "Really?" She asked. Roxas nodded. Giving him a flat look, she said, "You look way too excited about that."

The young Nobody pouted. "I've never seen a real school before. I don't even have any memories of going to school; Sora has all of them, and the one I went to when I was in that fake Twilight Town doesn't count."

Nikki blinked again. She had never seen a kid look so excited about going to school. School, like many things, was something you had to do, and for plenty of people it was like a bad job; it starts just fine, hell, you're even excited about it at first, but after a while you just end up going through the motions like a zombie or a machine, all while just waiting for the day to be over. That's what happens when you're stuck in one place for too long. Of course, that's one way of looking at it... if you want to be pessimistic about it.

"Come on," He urged, shaking her slightly. "You have to get ready. You don't want to be late."

"Roxas, calm down." Nikki ordered gently, taking his hands off her shoulders. "There's no need to rush. School doesn't start for another two hours. We have plenty of time."

"Okay..." Roxas relented, slumping his shoulders a little.

"Besides, you're not coming anyway, so you might as well get your butt back to bed."

At this, Roxas sat up straight and exclaimed, "What?!"

Nikki smiled and patted him on the head. "You're cute Roxas, but you're not a good liar. You and I both know that Axel's the one in charge of taking me to school, and he's picking me up too. That was the deal. Now go back to bed."

"Y-You can't tell me what to do!" The young Nobody blurted out childishly. "You're not my superior!"

"You're not coming, and that's final." Nikki said sternly as she laid back down. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed and I'm not getting up until my alarm goes off."

"But-"

"Ah ah!" Nikki cut him off, raising her hand. She continued, pointing to the door,"You. Bed. Now."

And with that, Nikki pulled the covers over her head and turned her back to the Nobody. Roxas pouted, puffing out his cheeks, and considered a retort, but he ended up staying quiet and doing exactly what she said and left the room, mumbling sourly to himself.

"So not fair..." He grumbled.

An hour and a half passed, and by this time Nikki had already fallen back to sleep. When Axel appeared in her room, she was completely unaware of his presence, even when he sauntered over to her bed and was standing so close he could wake her up physically. Noticing her phone on the little table next to the bed, Axel picked it up and flipped it open. He scrolled through the functions until he found the alarm clock, which was set for six a.m. and was only a minute away from going off. Smirking devilishly, Axel turned off the alarm and then closed the application, setting the phone back down, exactly where he had found it, before leaving the room. He returned not even a minute later with an uninflated balloon, which he blew up to a sufficient size before pinching the end so no air would escape. Holding the balloon over Nikki's head, Axel used his other hand to produce a small flame. The heat from the flame popped the balloon, the sound causing Nikki to snap awake and shriek as she flailed around before rolling out of bed. When she was finally able to untangle herself from the blanket, she looked up to see Axel standing over her, a big smile on his face.

"Rise and shine, sweetheart~." He greeted nonchalantly, as if he had just walked in and found her like that.

"Are you out of your bloody mind?!" Nikki yelled at him, her face red. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"There's nothing like a dose of adrenaline to wake you up in the morning. Who needs caffeine, am I right? Now hurry up and get dressed." He tossed Nikki her school uniform; which she had taken with her when she left her home, and held up his open hand."Breakfast is in five. We're having pancakes. If you're late, you automtically forfeit half of your food to me."

"Now wait a bloody minute-"

Axel cut her off, pointing to an imaginary watch on his wrist. "Four minutes and forty-five seconds to go. See you at breakfast~!"

Before Nikki could retort, Axel disappeared into a portal, smirk never leaving his face. She sat there on the floor, dumbfounded, for a few seconds before she hurried to untangle herself from the blanket so she could get dressed. A few minutes later, she was frantically running down the hallway to make it to the kitchen. She ran so fast she needed to skid to a stop as soon as she got there, and when she did she saw the redhead already sitting at the table. He had been tapping on the table, but he stopped as soon as he saw her.

"Eight minutes and fifty-seven seconds..." He said in a disappointed tone, shaking his head at her."Tsk tsk tsk... I have to say, I am very disappointed in you, young lady."

Immediately Nikki retorted, "If you gave me more time, I wouldnae be late!" Then she realized that she was walking right into one of his little games, and shook her head to snap herself out of her little fit of anger before she sat down. "Forget it. Let's just eat so you can take me to school."

Axel just smiled and pushed a plate towards Nikki. Despite what the Nobody had said earlier, there was a full stack of pancakes on it. Amused, he said, "I was just kidding around when I said I'd eat half your food. Got you motivated though, didn't it?"

He smiled, ignoring the daggers Nikki was mentally throwing at him. Ooh, if only, she thought. If only one of those daggers was real. That way it could hit him right in his forehead.

When she didn't eat, he urged her, "Go ahead, eat. I promise it's not poisoned." For emphasis, he drew an 'X' over his chest where his heart should have been, and added, "Cross my heart."

Nikki narrowed her eyes at him, picking up her fork and slowly digging it into the top pancake. She took a bite and found that they were quite good, but there was no way she was going to admit that to him, especially if he was the one who cooked them. Instead she opted to stay silent, eating her pancakes while glaring at Axel, who was also having something to eat. Eventually she finished her plate and ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth before coming back, and he summoned a portal.

* * *

When the portal finally opened, Nikki stepped out and found that they were a block away from the school, hidden away in a small alleyway between two buildings. She could see the front gate clearly from where she stood. Slowly creeping out of the portal, she made her way to the entrance to the alley, but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You remember the deal, right sweetheart?" She heard Axel say from behind her.

Rolling her eyes, Nikki responded in a flat tone, "Don't tell anybody. I know."

Satisfied with her answer, Axel patted her on the shoulder. "Good girl." He said. Ignoring Nikki's glare, he smiled and waved, adding in a cheeky manner, "Have a good first day, Honey Bunch~. See you after school~!"

Before Nikki could say anything, Axel slipped back into the portal and it disappeared, leaving her alone in the alley.

"Tch. Stupid git..." She muttered.

Adjusting the straps on her backpack, Nikki made her way to the front gate, ignoring the whispering of the students around her as they noticed her presence. As she approached the gates, she stopped briefly at the entrance, letting everyone else walk by her as she stared at the school with nervousness she hadn't felt since her first day there years ago. But it wasn't being back at school that made her uneasy. It was what would happen when she ran into her friends. How was she going to explain everything to them?

" _NIKKI_!"

The brunette was so deep in thought that she barely had time to register the desperate shout of her name, and when she did she had been tackled to the ground just as she was turning around to see who it was. At first she was confused, but when she saw a familiar head of short red hair and green eyes filled with tears, she recognized her tackler as her best friend Sandy. As the redhead was busy crying into Nikki's shoulder and holding onto her for dear life, the rest of her friends came running up to them, all but Harriet needing to catch their breath.

As soon as she caught her breath, Maggie exclaimed heatedly, "What the hell Sandy, at least give us a warning before you just start sprinting off for no reason! Now I'm gonna be all sweat-" Her rant died, however, as soon as she saw Nikki, and all her irritation disappeared in an instant as her big brown eyes started welling up with tears. She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands."Oh, God... Nikki!"

Maggie then launched herself forward, joining Sandy in hugging the daylights out of Nikki. She cried freely, not caring that her makeup was ruined, especially her mascara, which was streaming down her face along with the tears. They were immediately joined by Cassandra, and now Nikki had three crying friends hugging her with a grip so tight it was as if they were afraid she'd disappear if they let her go. The only one not hugging Nikki and crying their eyes out was Harriet, who stood there as stone-faced as ever, but there was something in her eyes as she observed the scene before her.

"Guys, guys, I'm okay." Nikki said finally, squirming to get out of their grip. "Now get off, I can't breathe!"

Still crying, they did as she said and let her go, one by one. Sandy was the last, and she made her disapproval show with a good punch in the arm, making Nikki flinch.

"Ow!" She yelped.

"Do you have _any_ idea how worried we were?" Sandy began to scold her, glaring through the tears.

"I'm sorry, okay?"

Sandy scoffed. "'Sorry?' You follow some stranger through a weird portal-thingy and end up being held prisoner by some evil Organization for a month and all you have to say is 'sorry?'" At the look on Nikki's face, the redhead put her hands on her hips and continued with slight smugness, "Oh yeah, we know all about this whole 'Organization XIII' business. Sora, Riku and Kairi told us everything."

Nikki gulped. "Everything?"

" _E-ve-ry-thing_." Sandy said, emphasizing each syllable.

Somehow this made Nikki even angrier at the young trio; they couldn't tell her everything that happened, but they tell her friends? They were definitely going to get a verbal lashing the next time she saw them.

"I didnae _want_ this to happen Sandy, it just _did_. What I did was stupid, and reckless, and I'm sorry. What else do you want me to say? I was an idiot for following some strange kid through a portal to God-knows-where, but I wouldnae have done it if those three had just been honest and told me everything from the beginning! I'm not the only one at fault here! So just lay off!"

Nikki didn't realize that she had been yelling until she had finished her little rant, seeing that not only were her friends staring at her with expressions of shock, but other students had stopped and stared as well. A quick glare sent her peers back on their way as she continued to stand there breathing heavily with her hands clenched into fists. Cassandra, the most sensitive of the group, had taken refuge behind Harriet, who remained expressionless. At first Sandy was about to open her mouth to retort, but suddenly decided against it, allowing this awkward, uncomfortable silence to continue for a few minutes.

The redhead finally spoke up after five minutes of silence. "So... how is this going to work, exactly; with you being their prisoner and all?"

Finally feeling somwehat calm, Nikki replied, "Well, the Organization doesn't want another fight with Sora and Riku, considering they beat their asses last time, so we worked out a deal. I can go anywhere I want as long as I have one of them with me, and there won't be any fighting as long as I'm safe. That's basically it."

"And your parents are okay with this?" Sandy asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nikki shrugged. "As okay as they can be, all things considered." She said. She paused for a moment before adding quietly, "I'm sorry for worrying you.."

Suddenly Harriet, who had remained silent the entire time, approached Nikki with that same steely look she had been wearing throughout the whole exchange. Being the tallest girl in the group, she towered over Nikki, who was shrinking back under her cool gaze. She was completely unprepared when the ravenette's fist shot out and punched her in the arm with enough force for her to feel a sharp ache. Nikki grunted in pain and held her arm, rubbing it in an attempt to alleviate the soreness that was forming in the spot where Harriet had hit her.

The taller girl gave her the darkest look she had ever seen, and though she was still speaking in her usual monotone voice, there was a slight edge to it as she simply said, "Don't do it again."

And just like that, the steely look in the ravenette's eyes was gone as she looked at Nikki with a small smile; just barely noticeable, which was normal for her. Offering a broader smile in return, Nikki hugged the taller girl and Harriet, not really being the affectionate type, just patted her on the head. The rest of the group joined in on the hug, but broke away from it quickly so they could get into the building before the bell rang.

As they walked onto school grounds and towards the font entrance, Sandy piped up, "So what exactly happened, anyway?"

* * *

Nikki sat in the little chair in front of Mr. Cooper's desk, playing with the pendant around her neck nervously as the vice-principal sifted through his documents. Just as she had walked inside the building, a member of the faculty stopped her and said she needed to report to the main office. Normally she would be talking to the principal himself, but the secretary said he was "too busy" to see her, so she was sent to Mr. Cooper's office instead. This was no surprise, of course. Principal Callahan was always "too busy" when it came to Nikki and her friends, and even if he did decide to grace them with his presence it was usually to give them a talking to about whatever scuffle they got into with his daughters that day; even if said daughters started it. It was fine, though. They preferred kindly Mr. Cooper over Principal Callahan any day. He could be a bit overbearing at times, but he always had the students' best interests at heart. Whenever there was a conflict, he tried to listen to both sides of the story before dealing out judgement, and he was usually pretty fair when it came to such things.

In contrast to Mr. Callahan, who was tall and fit, Mr. Cooper was short and chubby, with neatly combed hair and a fresh-pressed suit.

Mr. Cooper politely cleared his throat before speaking. "Good morning, Miss Hale. I understand that your parents reported you missing a month ago. I just want you to know that we are happy to have you back safe and sound. That being said, you have missed quite a lot while you were gone. If you'd like, we can give you some extra help after school to help you catch up, and I'm sure your friends will be more than happy to offer you their assistance as well."

He then handed Nikki a piece of paper.

"This here is your schedule. You'll find that all the classes you've chosen last year are all on the list. You'd better get going; your first class will be starting any minute. Off you go. Enjoy your first day back, Miss Hale!"

"Thank you, sir."

With that, Nikki left Mr. Cooper's office, shutting the door behind her.

As she walked to her first class, Nikki looked at the piece of paper the vice-principal had given her. The first class listed on the schedule was Gym with Mr. Ryan. Her other classes were Health with Mrs. Sanchez, English with Ms. Holly, Spanish with Mrs. Carriedo-Lopez, Science with Mr. Lincoln and History with Mr. Jameson. With only a few minutes until the first bell rang, Nikki hurried to the locker room, knowing full well how Mr. Ryan responded to tardiness; students who came in late had to run laps around the gym until he saw fit to tell them to stop, which usually took about fifty laps in extreme cases. Luckily, though, he would give the student some time to rest and hyrdate themselves before telling them to get off their ass and participate.

Luckily she was able to make it to the locker room and change into her gym clothes, making it into the gym with two minutes to spare. As was customary in Mr. Ryan's class, the students all lined up perfectly for him to do a roll call. She squeezed into the line, ending up right next to her best friend Sandy.

"Cutting it a bit close, aren't you?"

"Sorry." Nikki said. "I had to go see Mr. Cooper first."

"Why, was Mr. Callahan 'too busy' to talk to you himself?" The redhead remarked snidely.

"You know how it is." Nikki simply said, shrugging.

At the sound of heavy footsteps, the class fell silent, standing up straight as the gym teacher, Mr. Ryan stepped into the room. A tall, dark-skinned man, Mr. Ryan, with his bulky, well-defined muscles, straight posture and intimidating presence, made his students look like a pack of bent toothpicks. Being ex-military, a drill-sergeant to be exact, he had the tendency to treat his class like soldiers in training rather than a bunch of teenagers. Dressed in his usual army camouflage and dog tags, he looked like he just stepped out of the military base. He approached the line of students, hands folded behind his back.

"All right, maggots." He barked authoratively. "You know the drill. Anyone who doesn't answer when I call their name does extra laps."

Taking a clipboard, he called everyone's names. None of his students ever dared to mess with him or be smart during roll call. Anyone that did was forced to run laps until they collapsed. Everyone knew by now that Mr. Ryan was a tough, no-nonsense teacher that readily dealt out punishment to disrespectful students. The fact that he was ex-military and a former drill-sergeant only added to his expectations for proper behavior and respect, and after he made examples of a few smartasses people learned very quickly to abide by it, lest they suffer the consequences.

When he reached Nikki's name, he stopped.

"Nicole Hale." He called out.

"Here." She answered.

Mr. Ryan gave her a brief look-over before speaking. "Good to have you back, soldier. But don't think you'll get any special treatment just because you were missing for a month. I expect you to be able to keep up, you hear?"

"Yes Sir! I will, Sir!"

Satisfied, he said a quick "Good," and moved on to the next name on the list.

"All right," He said after finishing his roll call, "now I want all of you to run laps and don't stop until I say so."

Mr. Ryan then took the well-polished whistle that was around his neck and blew it long and loud, enough for the students' ears to ring, and shouted, "Begin!"

At the sound of the whistle the class took off running, going in circles around the gym. Every time someone went too slow, Mr. Ryan blew his whistle at them and demanded they run faster, making them maintain a light jog at the least. He had them keep going until he determined that each student had done a minimum of fifteen laps. Gesturing to a table heavily stocked with bottles, he had everyone take a ten minute break to rest and have some water. It was during this time that Nikki and her friends gathered to talk. The only one who wasn't there was Cassandra, who, being the youngest, was a year behind them, and therefore in the junior class.

"So what are these people like? Organization XIII, I mean." Sandy asked.

"I'm not supposed to talk about them, Sandy." Nikki replied dismissively. "One of the rules of being a captive, you know. Besides, one of them might be here listening."

Determined to get an answer, the redhead pressed, "Just sum it up for us, then."

The brunette sighed. "All right, fine." She said. She took a brief look around to make sure no one was listening before she gestured for them to come forward. They all leaned toward her, forming some sort of huddle, and only then did Nikki feel comfortable enough to speak. "They're crazy, and that's putting it nicely. Now can we change the subject, please? I'd really rather not talk about the Organization. The less people that know what's going on, the better."

"You have a point." Sandy conceded. "Imagine if Monique and Bella found out."

At the thought of her two worst enemies finding out her situation, and most likely using it to spread wild rumors about her, Nikki shuddered. "Just thinking about it gives me a headache."

"I have some pills in my bag." The redhead offered. "You want one?"

At first Nikki considered taking her up on the offer, but declined after thinking about it. "Maybe later."

"You sure you're okay, hon?" Maggie piped up, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, Mags, I'm fine." Nikki assured her.

Just as Sandy opened her mouth to speak, the sound of Mr. Ryan's whistle rang through the gym, signaling the end of their ten minute break. At first the redhead pouted and attempted to grill Nikki for more answers, she was roughly pushed ahead by Harriet who was giving her the 'let it go' look. Another fifteen laps later, Mr. Ryan called the students back in and, after expressing his satisfaction with their performance, announced that they coud have a free period for the rest of the class. They were now free to partake in any activity they wanted, just so long as they weren's just sitting there doing nothing.

Like usual, Nikki's group gathered in the weight room, settling down in one spot with one girl each using a different machine to keep themselves busy so their teacher wouldn't think they were slacking off.

* * *

By the time gym ended, Nikki's muscles were so sore she could feel them pulsing under her skin; which was normal for Mr. Ryan's classes, dragging her feet as she walked to her next class. As she was making her way down the hall, she spots some familiar faces, all of which gave her an unpleasant feeling in her stomach... faces belonging to Monique and her sister Bella. Like usual, the twins were surrounded by their fellow cheerleaders as they stood in front of the lockers, gathered in a huddle as they were engaged in conversation; no doubt gossiping as usual.

At first Nikki thought she could sneak around them, but unfortunately one of the girls spotted her and nudged Monique, pointing in her direction. The brunette sighed heavily as the blonde saw her, smiled arrogantly, and silenced the other cheerleaders with a snap of her fingers.

"Well, well, well," Monique started with that same, sickeningly sweet voice that Nikki hated with a passion, "look who it is girls. It's little Nikki."

"Piss off, Monique. I'm not in the mood for your shit today." Nikki growled.

She attempted to move past the group of girls and continue on her way, but they blocked her path.

Monique didn't seem bothered by Nikki's attitude because the smile on her face hadn't faltered one bit. "Ooh, someone's cranky this morning. We just wanted to say hi. We missed you, you know." She paused to address her squad. "Right girls?"

Bella and the rest of the squad nodded in agreement, smiling and giggling as they stood on either side of their leader.

With a tired sigh, Nikki asked, "What do you want Monique?"

"It's like I said. We just wanted to welcome you back and tell you how much we missed you. Things just weren't the same while you were gone. Those little friends of yours are so boring without you around to pull their strings. They look so lost and pathetic without you. It's sad, really."

Nikki crossed her arms. "Is there a point to all this, or are you just running your mouth like usual?"

Bella scoffed, looking offended. "How rude! Here we are being nice to you and you have the nerve to talk to us like that?"

"Shut up, Bella." Monique snapped harshly, making her sister flinch. She turned her attention back to Nikki and said sweetly, "Of course I have a point. My point is that you're entertaining and your friends aren't-at least without you around. Now that you're back, it'll be just like old times."

She paused briefly to look at her expensive watch, gasping lightly when she saw the time. "Oh my, look at the time. Class will start soon, and we don't want to be late, do we? You can have today to get settled, but it'll be back to business as usual tomorrow. We look forward to spending more quality time with you, _darling_."

And with that, Monique started walking, snapping her fingers as a signal to the others to follow her. Bella and the other girls obediently followed behind her, and Nikki locked eyes with the twins for a quick, but very tense, few seconds. Her and Bella glared at each other while Monique just smirked as they passed her and continued down the hall. Bella, who still felt bitter about being shot down by her sister, lingered at the back of the group and gave Nikki a rough bump with her shoulder behind her twin's back, the impact making the brunette drop her books. Feeling satisfied, Bella shot a smug smirk at Nikki as she strutted away, unfazed by the glare that was thrown her way.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Nikki just shook her head and knelt down to pick up her books.

"Some things never change..." She muttered quietly to herself.

* * *

The rest of Nikki's day went by without incident, but she found herself nearly buried under a mound of not only homework for that day but also makeup work for the month she lost. She hoped that between her friends and Zexion-if she could convince him to help-she could get it all done relatively quickly. The supersized workload was weighing down her already heavy backpack, making her walk with a slight hunch. To top it all off, she had gotten a text from Axel earlier that day, telling her that he was on a mission and would be a few minutes late picking her up.

As she exited the school, she spotted Kairi talking to Selphie, with Sora and Riku nowhere to be found. She called out the redhead's name, causing both girls to look her way.

"Hey Nikki." Kairi greeted her. "What's up?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Nikki asked.

"Sure."

Kairi and Selphie promptly said goodbye to each other and and the brunette walked away, leaving Kairi and Nikki alone. The redhead suddenly had a serious, mildly sad and guilty-looking expression on her face as soon as her friend left, giving Nikki the impression that she knew what she wanted to talk to her about.

"I'm so sorry about everything, Nikki." Kairi began to apologize, before Nikki had a chance to say anything. "It wasn't right for us to keep this whole thing with Organization XIII a secret from you, especially since you were always like a big sister to us. So much had happened while we were gone, and we only lied because we didn't want you to be dragged into it. We were just trying to protect you, and you ended up getting involved in this whole mess anyway."

"To be fair, I _did_ follow Roxas; a kid I didn't know at the time, through a portal leading who-knows-where, and just waltzed right into their castle. I would say the blame goes 50/50 in this case." The brunette admitted, scratching the back of her neck.

Kairi shrugged and agreed, "I guess so. Sora and Riku told me about the meeting with your parents, and it's just so crazy. To be honest, I wasn't expecting them to let you come back to school."

"They just don't want Sora and Riku to kick their asses again." Nikki said with a smile.

Kairi laughed. "Yeah. Those two would have torn the castle apart to save you."

"Yeah, they would have."

"I can't speak for the boys, but I don't want anything like this to ever happen again. I promise that I'll never keep anything secret from you ever again, Nikki. The next time we go on an adventure, I'll make sure to let you know."

Nikki gave the redhead an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Kairi. That means a lot. Speaking of Sora and Riku, where are they? Usually when I see you three, you're always together."

Kairi thought about it for a moment, putting a finger to her lip.

"I think Sora said he forgot something in the locker room and went to go look for it. Riku went with him." She called after Nikki as the brunette turned around and began walking away, back towards the school, ""Why, is something wrong?"

"Nope." The older girl replied nonchalantly. "We're just going to have a little talk, is all. Don't worry, they'll come back out in one piece. See you later, Kairi."

Nikki's walk then turned into a run as she headed back inside the school, leaving a mildly concerned Kairi behind.

* * *

As soon as she re-entered the building, Nikki made a beeline for the boys' locker room where Kairi said that Sora and Riku had gone. Sure enough, she found them inside searching the lockers, with Sora becoming more worried and Riku just looking fed up. Besides her, they were the only people in the room. Opting not to say anything, Nikki just crossed her arms and leaned against the wall as she waited to be noticed.

"Are you sure you left it in here?" Riku asked with an exasperated sigh.

"I'm positive." Sora replied.

"You sure you didn't leave it in one of the classrooms?"

"We checked those rooms already. It wasn't in any of them." There was a slight pause before Sora suggested, with worry in his voice, "What if someone stole it?"

Riku rolled his eyes and said, rather bluntly,"I don't think anybody in their right mind would want to steal an old, faded and bleach-stained Superman t-shirt..."

Sora huffed. "Hey, that shirt was lucky!" He yelled out defensively. "I've been wearing it under my gym uniform for years and we haven't lost a single kickball game! It's also why I never get hit when we play dodgeball."

"You never get hit because I always have to save you." Riku deadpanned.

Sora shot the other teen a big, toothy grin and replied, "See? Totally lucky."

Sora then turned his attention back to the locker he was searching. Because he was too busy being neck-deep in said locker, he didn't notice Riku smile and shake his head. After about a minuye there was a sudden gasp, and Sora came out of the locker with his "lucky" shirt in his hands.

"Riku, I found it!" He exclaimed exitedly, showing his friend the shirt.

"Great, now let's get out of here. Kairi's probably thinking we got lost or something."

Sora nodded in agreement and stood up. He and Riku turned around and took one step before freezing instantly when they saw Nikki standing there leaning against the wall. They knew just by the look on her face that they were in trouble.

"Uh, Riku..."

"Crap.. Run."

Before they could run away, Nikki ran up to them and grabbed both boys by the ears, making them wince in pain

"Where do you think you're going? You two have some explaining to do." Nikki began to scold them. "You and Kairi go missing for over a year and when you finally get back you do nothing but keep secrets. I've been like a big sister to you three for years, and you have the nerve to keep your adventures a secret from _me_? I just think it's pretty damn sad that I had to get the truth from Roxas; a member of Organization XIII, who are your _enemies_ by the way, instead of you. You had no problem telling my friends, though, did you? I thought this whole thing was supposed to be kept a secret. So spill it."

"It's not like we had a choice, Nikki." Riku said in their defense.

"Yeah. It was Sandy." Sora agreed. "She said we wouldn't make it to graduation if we didn't tell her what happened."

Nikki raised an eyebrow. "You mean to tell me that a couple of powerful Keyblade Wielders that fought countless monsters, saved worlds and stopped a villainous organization from gaining ultimate power let themselves get pushed around and threatened by a human with no special abilities or powers whatsoever?"

"You do know we're talking about Sandy, right?" Riku pointed out.

"What could she possibly do to you?"

"You'd be surprised. Can you let us go now?"

Nikki shook her head. "Not until you promise that you won't keep any more secrets from me." She said adamantly.

"You don't need to know everything we do, Nikki." Riku said defiantly.

"I think I have a right to know when you go on adventures to save the universe from darkness and evil. I would actually worry about you less if I knew what was going on." Nikki then tightened her grip on their ears, and said forcefully, "Now promise me."

Immediately Sora caved, grabbing Nikki's wrist and trying in vain to pry it off his ear as tears welled up in his eyes. "Owowowowow! Okay! I promise!"

As soon as she let him go, Sora rubbed his sore ear, which had turned red by this point. Riku, however, remained silent.

"Come on, Riku." Sora urged him to comply. "You know she won't let you go until you do what she says."

Riku continued to stay silent in defiance, but winced when Nikki tightened her grip on his ear.

" _Okay_ , fine..." He conceded. "I promise."

Finally feeling satisfied, Nikki let him go.

"There, was that so hard?" She asked.

Rubbing his ear, Riku grumbled, "You really need to think of ways to get your point across _other_ than inflicting pain."

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Was it really necessary, though?" Sora asked. "We already said we were sorry."

"I know." Nikki said. "I just wanted the extra closure of knowing you'll never keep secrets or lie to me again."

The look on her face made the two boys flinch. It was the kind of face your mom made when she was using a smile to hide how mad at you she really was. They could feel the anger boiling beneath the surface.

"Don't worry Nikki, we won't." Sora promised, his voice quivering a little.

Nikki's face then returned to normal. "Good." She said. "Now run along, before Kairi starts worrying about you."

As Sora and Riku left the locker room, Nikki's phone suddenly went off. She opened and found a text from Sandy asking where she was and that she was waiting by the front gate. Not wanting to keep her friend waiting, she left the locker room immediately.

* * *

When she got outside, Nikki found her best friend waiting by the front gate, looking like she was waiting there for an hour rather than a few minutes. That was typical of Sandy, however, as the girl was anxious and didn't have a great deal of patience because of it. The redhead looked up from her phone and saw Nikki approach her, and moved so she was standing up straight.

"I thought they would have picked you up by now." She said.

Knowing Sandy was referring to someone in Organization XIII, Nikki replied, "They're gonna be a little late. You wanna take a walk?"

Sandy just shrugged, which Nikki took as a confirmation, and they began walking off of school grounds and down the sidewalk.

"So you think the Organization will allow you to sleep over tonight, or are sleepovers off-limits to prisoners?" Sandy asked.

"Pretty sure they are, unless you want to spend a night in the castle."

Sandy scoffed. "Me? Spend the night in a castle full of crazy people? No thanks."

"Then I don't think it's going to happen."

"Damn..." The redhead cursed. She changed the subject after a few seconds, asking, "How do they expect you to get back to the castle, anyway? You can't make a portal-thingy, can you?"

Nikki stated matter-of-factly, "If I could, I would have escaped a long time ago. Axel's picking me up."

"Oh." There was a brief pause before Sandy asked, "Do you want me to beat him up for you?"

Nikki couldn't help but snort. "Axel is the Organization's assassin and double agent. If you think you can sneak up on him, then go for it. Let me know how it turns out."

"Hey, it's worth a shot." Sandy said, shrugging.

As they approached an alleyway; the same one Axel dropped Nikki off in, a portal suddenly appeared, mildly startling Sandy. She recovered quickly though, looking like she was ready to fight. As the Nobody exited the portal, she asked Nikki in a hushed tone, "That's him, right?"

Nikki nodded, and Sandy scowled in response.

"Long time no see, Sunshine." Axel greeted as he stepped out of the portal.

Nikki's face went flat."You dropped me off this morning." She deadpanned.

"You mean it's only been six hours? To me it felt like an eternity."

"When it comes to you, not even an eternity would be long enough." Nikki retorted harshly.

Axel gasped dramatically, a look of mock-hurt on his face as he put his hand over his heart. "Ouch, Sweetheart, that really hurt. I _do_ have feelings, you know."

At the pet name, Sandy angrily interjected, "Don't call her that, you no-good friend-napper! She may be your prisoner, but that doesn't mean she belongs to you!"

"Actually, that's exactly what it means." The Nobody stated matter-of-factly. "And I'm sorry, but who are you?"

Sandy crossed her arms and stated proudly, "The name's Sandy. I'm her best friend and your worst nightmare. I'm warning you, if you do anything, anything at all to hurt her, I _will_ end you so you better watch your ass, buster."

"I'm absolutely terrified." He muttered sarcastically. Then he turned to Nikki and asked, "So, you ready to head back?"

"Actually, I wanted to hang out with Sandy tonight." Nikki said, and Axel noticed the redheaded female's smug look from behind her.

"You can do whatever you want, so long as you don't mind having a third wheel tagging along."

"There's no way I'm letting that leather coat-wearing hedgehog in my house!" Sandy yelled out, pointing at Axel.

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Hedgehog?"

Looking smug, Sandy asked mockingly, "What's wrong? Did I hurt your feelings?"

In response, Axel smirked."I hate to burst your bubble Kiddo, but I've been called worse things by better people. If you really want to insult me, you'll have to do better than that."

The Nobody's smirk widened as Sandy's smugness faded.

"You're wasting your time, Sandy. Trust me." Nikki pointed out. "Insulting him is like getting Xemnas to laugh at knock-knock jokes. It just doesn't work."

At first Sandy considered flinging another insult, but decided against it and instead crossed her arms again, looking away in a huff. She stated defiantly, "I stand by what I said."

Nikki rolled her eyes at her friend's stubbornness and suggested, "Okay, then we can go to my house."

"No offense Sweetheart-" Axel continued to speak, ignoring the death glare Sandy was giving him for calling Nikki 'sweetheart' again, "-but if we go to your house, I'll have your dad breathing down my neck the whole time. That, and your dog growls at me."

"That dog deserves a steak."

"Why don't we go someplace neutral." The Nobody suggested, ignoring Sandy once again. "That way, everybody's happy. Sound fair?"

"I guess so." Nikki agreed. "How about Destiny Island?"

"Works for me." Axel said, shrugging.

Nikki turned to her friend. "Sandy?"

"Whatever."

"Okay then..."

Taking his cue, Axel opened a new portal, fighting back a smirk when the action made Sandy jump slightly. Gesturing to the swirling black mass, he said in a gentlemanly voice, "Ladies first."

"My, what a gentleman." Sandy said sarcastically.

"I was talking to the cute one."

Immediately Sandy was on the defensive. "You sayin' I'm ugly?" She asked accusingly.

Putting his hands up, Axel said dismissively, "Hey, you said it, not me."

Sandy snarled. "Why you-!"

"All right, that's enough. Let's go." Nikki immediately got behind her friend and started pushing her towards the portal.

As Nikki pushed Sandy towards the portal, said redhead spouting off mild curses, she shot a a glare at Axel as she passed him, silently telling him to cut the crap. His only response was a shrug and that telltale smirk of his as he followed them into the portal.

* * *

After they arrived at Destiny Island, Nikki and Sandy sat by the beach while Axel was hanging back under a nearby tree; just far enough to be out of earshot but close enough to see them, and Nikki began to tell her friend about everything that had happened while she was at the castle. The redhead listened intently to everything the brunette said, mostly staying silent while showing a look of shock every so often. When Nikki finished, Sandy let out a shaky breath.

"You're handling it better than I would have, Nikki. I don't think I could ever call the people keeping me prisoner my friends." She paused for a second, and then asked, "You're not really friends with them, are you?"

Just from the look on her friend's face, Nikki knew that Sandy was hoping she'd say no. She briefly turned her head to look at Axel and saw him on his phone; no doubt texting Roxas or playing some game, then turned back to Sandy.

She shrugged. "Hm, more or less. But it's only a few of them. The members that went with me to talk to my parents are the only ones out of the entire organization that I would ever consider friends."

Sandy grimaced. "Even spikehead over there?" She asked with disdain, nodding towards Axel.

"He's an annoying, insufferable git and I want to punch him in his smug face." Nikki muttered angrily, pounding her fist into her palm for emphasis. "I swear his purpose in life is to aggravate me. I tolerate him for Roxas' sake."

"Roxas must really be special if you're willing to put up with Axel."

"He's Sora's Nobody. They may be two different people personality-wise, but they have the same effect on others. I feel like a big sister to Sora, so it makes sense that I feel the same way towards Roxas."

"Is it normal for a Nobody and their original self to exist at the same time?" Sandy asked.

"Probably not." Nikki replied, shrugging. "But Vexen had some spare replica vessels lying around, so one was given to Roxas so he could have a body of his own. Now the two can be around each other without one of them passing out."

"Is Roxas anything like Sora?"

Nikki thought about it for a second. "In some ways. He's not nearly as happy-go-lucky or mellow as Sora is, but he's not a little jerk either. He's a good kid."

"That's good." Sandy paused again before asking, "You sure you can't sleep over tonight?"

Nikki muttered drly, "Let me check with my parole officer." Turning towards Axel, she called out,"Hey Axel, can I sleep over Sandy's house tonight?"

Axel didn't even look up from his phone as he responded absentmindedly, "Only if I can keep an eye on you, and you know that means I'll have to stay there too."

" _ **Hell no**_!" Sandy yelled immediately.

"Then you can't."

Nikki groaned in exasperation. "Come on, can't you bend the rules just this once?"

"Sorry Sweetheart, no can do."

"But it's just for one night! Please?"

"Not unless your friend wants to stay at the castle."

"No way!" Sandy interjected.

Nikki turned to her friend, pleading. "It's only for one night, Sandy. Besides, you can meet Roxas. Please?"

Puffing out her lower lip, the brunette gave Sandy the biggest pouty, sad kicked puppy look the redhead had ever seen. Her hands clasped together, Nikki held them up in a pleading gesture, her lip quivering as tears welled up in her big blue eyes.

Axel wasn't going to lie. That was the cutest puppy dog face he had ever seen.

"Nikki, no." The redhead refused. "No, no, no. That face is _not_ going to work on me. Not this time. Forget it."

But Nikki didn't stop. The look only intensified, and the brunette even started sniffling.

"I said _no_."

The sniffling turned into whining.

"Nikki, I said-"

The tears were about to fall...

"Okay. I'll do it."

And just like that, the puppy face was gone and Nikki let out a happy squeal, catching Sandy in a hug. As she was being hugged, Sandy turned to Axel and pointed a finger at him, telling him in a warning tone, "But no funny business, you got it? I don't want to wake up missing a kidney or something."

Axel raised an eyebrow, then waved it off. He said nonchalantly, "You can keep your kidneys. We're more interested in hearts. Vexen loves to dissect them, but the rest of us enjoy them as a tasty snack."

Sandy gasped at this and clutched her heart.

"Don't listen to him, Sandy." Nikki told her, shooting Axel the "cut the shit" glare while he sat there smirking. "You should call your mom."

Sandy's eyebrow arched. "And what do I tell her, exactly?" She asked.

"Just ask her if you can sleep over my house. I'll call my parents and let them know what's going on, and if your mom asks they'll lie and say we're both there eating ice cream and watching movies like we always do. She'll buy that."

"Okay." Sandy sighed heavily. "Jeez, the things I do for you.."

* * *

Sandy never felt more out of place in her life. There she was, in Nikki's room in the castle, surrounded by a bunch of weirdos in black leather coats; even if one of them was an adorable little cinammon roll, as they all tried to decide what they were going to do for the evening. Demyx had brought in a stack of board games three feet high; Battleship, Monopoly, Scrabble and Candy Land, to name a few, shoving each game in Zexion's face as the shorter Nobody was getting steadily more irritated. Apparently the schemer had been sitting in his room, reading like usual, when Demyx barged in and said they were having a sleepover, dragging him out before he had a chance to respond. Roxas and Axel were sitting in front of the TV Nikki brought from home, debating on which one of her games they should play. The redhead wanted to play a Resident Evil game while the blonde insisted that they play Legend of Zelda.

 _"This is not how I pictured staying in a castle run by an evil organization..."_ Sandy thought, not even bothering to hide the look of annoyance and mild disappointment on her face.

"Is it normally like this?" The redhead asked, referring to the two different arguments going on in front of them.

"With these guys? Aye. It is." Nikki replied. "You get used to it after a while."

While Nikki wasn't looking, Sandy made a face. There was no way she could ever get used to something like this.

Nikki stood up suddenly. "All right, that's it." She said testily as she made her way to Zexion and Demyx, who were the closest to her.

Grabbing a board game from the stack the noturne had on the floor, she then stalked over to the TV where Axel and Roxas were still locked in a heated debate. She pushed both of them aside and picked a completely different game than the two they were arguing over and slapped both items on the floor in the middle of the room. Then she took a few movies from her library and added them to the pile as well.

"Listen up." She said with authority. "This is _my_ sleepover, so we're doing this _my_ way, got it? We're starting with The Game of Life, and once we're done with that we're playing Mario Kart. The first person to win ten races wins, and then we move on to movies. We're gonna watch Marvel movies because I said so. Any questions?"

Axel raised his hand, no doubt to throw in a sarcastic remark, but Nikki ignored him.

"Good." She clapped her hands together. "Let's go play Life. I call the blue car~!"

"Aw, man!" Demyx whined. _"I wanted the blue car..."_ He thought bitterly.

* * *

A few hours later, the group was exhausted. The Game of Life took longer than they expected, partially because Sandy and Nikki were the only ones who knew how to play so they had to explain the rules to the Nobodies. Luckily, they caught on quick enough and they were able to get through the game without hitting any snags. Zexion ended up winning, making it to retirement before any of the other players. Demyx, being the last to make it to the end of the game, bitterly claimed it was because he used his illusion powers to cheat, though the schemer denied it, calling the nocturne a sore loser. This fueled the blonde to try his absolute hardest to beat everyone in Mario Kart, but ended up coming in third behind Axel and Roxas who were both competing for first place. The evening ended after the group watched three different Marvel movies before finally deciding to throw in the towel and go to bed, but not before having a debate on which one of the three films was the best.

Too tired to return to their own rooms, the Nobodies had some Dusks bring in sleeping bags and slept on the floor. Sandy, not wanting to share the same sleeping space with the guys, opted to sleep in Nikki's bed. This decision earned her a remark from Axel, who was being a smartass as usual, but she got him back by giving him a swift kick to the shin. She felt good about it for a full two seconds before the assassin pointed out that she kicked like a little girl. The redhead would have kicked him again, this time aiming a little higher, but Nikki stopped her before she could even lift her foot.

As Nikki and the Nobodies laid asleep in their chosen spots, Sandy remained wide awake from her spot on Nikki's bed. She just couldn't get her head around it. How could all of them just play around, being all buddy-buddy and acting like nothing was wrong? Her best friend was being held prisoner by these people, and here they were in her room having a sleepover of all things, playing games and watching movies like they were all friends.

There was no way Nikki was really friends with them. Sure, Roxas was the exception because he's Sora's Nobody, but Axel? Demyx? Zexion? There was no way. Nikki must have developed Stockholm Syndrome. It was the only explanation. Why else would she be calling these people-with the exception of Roxas-her friends? And how could everyone be okay with all this; including Nikki's parents, and Sora, Riku and Kairi? The more Sandy thought about it, the more it drained her. Eventually she fell asleep too, wild thoughts swimming in her head.

* * *

To be continued...


End file.
